Reasons American Apparel Sucks (NSFW)
…and should be boycotted!
There is a wealth of information out there about the now-infamous American Apparel. After collecting articles and advertisements for the past year or so, I’ve decided to create a quick overview of reasons to boycott American Apparel – complete with links to some very eye-opening articles.
Besides the fact that I find the clothing at American Apparel to be ridiculously overpriced (and fueling the consumer habits I discuss in “Hipsters and the Consumer Culture of Cool”), there are other reasons AA is a toxic company:
1. EXPLOITATIVE & SEXIST AD CAMPAIGNS
Hey, sex sells, I get it. But where do we draw the line? American Apparel ads are practically soft-core (borderline child) pornography. These ads depict “real” women who are not all necessarily size 0 (more like size 2 or 4, what a radical difference). That makes the pornographic nature of the ads that much more offensive to me. I identify much more strongly with the women in AA ads than I do photo-shopped supermodels gracing the cover of Vogue. It sends a more direct message to young women everywhere – this model looks like you, she’s wearing our clothes and pushing her ass in your face, this is what modern, cool young women do. Don’t believe me? Sometimes pictures speak louder than words:
2. EXOTIFICATION OF MULTIRACIAL WOMEN
As if sexism weren’t enough, there are a series of AA ads that list the ethnicity of the (female) models – supposedly to celebrate diversity. I think most would agree, however, that it unnecessarily points out the “exotic” ethnicity of the model. Read this article for more information.
Also check out part of a Racialicious series entitled Race and Pop Culture Trends: Hipster Racism
3. DOV CHARNEY, CEO
Sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, unprofessional behavior. Oh, and he requires all his employees to be approved personally by him — in regards to their attractiveness.
Plus, take a look at this guy. Doesn’t he look like a pedophile from the ‘70s? Ugh. Keep that in mind the next time you shop at AA.
There are too many related articles to count so I’ve organized them into categories:
SEXIST ADVERTISEMENTS:
American Apparel ad banned
I hate sweatshops. Now, which one of you wants to suck my dick?
Leftist Balkanization
This is sooo not at all pornographic, you puritanical busybodies.
DOV CHARNEY:
Is Dov-y Too Lovey? A Look at American Apparel’s CEO.
Who’s Your Daddy? Dov Charney serves up paternalism with a creepy smile at American Apparel HQ
Dov Charney is an MRA. Pardon me if I don’t faint with surprise. & Dov Charney thinks you’re stupid.
Living On The Edge At American Apparel
Dov Charney: The hustler and his American dream
“Must be intimate with Office.”
American Apparel: Made With Dov.
LEGAL ISSUES:
Employee Suing American Apparel Once Defended Them
Dov Charney’s Court Case Is Totally Complicated
We Predict More Lawsuits in Dov Charney’s Future
Sexy marketing or sexual harassment?
THE FULL PICTURE:
Understanding American Apparel
Cheers,
Dollface
P.S. For a good laugh, read The Onion’s ground-breaking expose: 14 American Apparel Models Freed In Daring Midnight Raid
I’ve never bought anything from American Apparel before because I’ve always found their prices a little too steep, but I HAVE admired some of their pieces. However, I agree that some of the images used in their advertising campaigns could be classified as sexist, and some of those articles you linked to were real eye-openers. Thanks for the interesting read, and WELCOME BACK! How was your holiday? :)
OMFG! I have never bought anything from AA before because the only places that sell it in NZ are boutiques and the price is extortionate for what you get.
But now, even if I’m a millionaire I’m not going to buy their clothes.
I read a few of the articles you linked to and they make me sick. How can the CEO get away with that? How do people feel drawn to this company with amateur soft porn used for advertising.
Thank you for making sure I never convince myself that American Apparel is the only place I can get a plain tee from!
I thought it was interesting that when I was working on the piece about the D.C.-area AA stores that were vandalized and threatened because they had “Legalize Gay” shirts in their window displays, I found several comments from people suggesting that AA had staged the vandalism just for the good press. I guess some people didn’t think it was outside the realm of possibility because the company sucks so hard in other areas.
I don’t understand how the advertising draws women to buy clothes from AA. I mean, the target audience seems to be a group of 20 year old males.
Appalling.
Yeaaaaah, I’ve never liked AA. ALOT of my friends do though. I posted this article on facebook- no response FROM ANYONE. :( I wish people didn’t ignore this stuff.
Thanks for your comments, ladies!
@ Corrine — My vacation was great! I’d love to break from my norm and do a personal post on it. I wish I lived in Ireland year-round!
I find American Apparel clothing to be cute sometimes too, and if it weren’t for the prices AND all the stuff in the above article, I’d shop there. I prefer thrifting anyway!
@ Ms Constantine — I don’t know how or why the CEO gets away with this crap, I really don’t.
@ Jezebel — That’s interesting. I wouldn’t put it past them either…
@ Jackie — Ahh, but we are supposed to want to be LIKE those women because we know 20 year old males like them. Ughh.
@ Bunny — I know what you mean! All my college friends shop there, and when I bring up reasons not to, they ignore it. I actually had one friend say to me, “but their clothes are so affordable! where else would i shop?” Oy vey. Thanks for linking to the article, though!
I am torn here, becuase on everything else they are so much better than any other clothing company. (environment, garment worker rights, and wages) However, their ads are so bad though. Granted most clothes companies have terrible sexist ads, these ones are just so blatant. I am seriously torn here.
hello my iran
hello to you too, mostafa?
@ Ian — Yeah, Ian, I’m torn. However I did find some compelling articles about how their workers rights are NOT as peachy-keen as AA would lead us to believe. I’ll try to track them down and email them to you/post them here.
it’s such a shame that a seemingly ethical company would have such a huge flaw! i thought i’d found a new place to shop at – as i try to only buy fairly traded ethical stuff – but no way am i supporting that kind of advertisment…
*sigh*
do you know any better brands that actually ARE ethical?
thanks :)
What exactly does a pedophile from the ’70s look like?
You people are feminazi, sex-negative idiots. AA is an incredible company. Vive AA! Think about what you are saying here: You want to actually boycott the one clothing company that proved to the world that it’s not necessary to exploit third world labour just because its founder is a man slut? You want to boycott that company and not the millions of others whose practices perpetuate systems of unconscionable inequality and grind the real poor of the world into oblivion? You bitch about their stuff being overpriced but fail to recognize that that might be because THEIR WORKERS EARN A LIVING WAGE? You want to freak out about “exploitative” AA ads but not about the avalanches of violent porn available for free on hundreds of streaming and file sharing sites featuring women surgically altered into freaks of nature? Or the millions of other companies that use sex to sell their products? You’re actually upset that the women in these ads are realistic looking? Isn’t that what second-wavers have been screeching for for decades? Talk about political correctness gone berserk. If women working at AA are being treated so badly they can sue this perv like what happens to every other guy who crosses the line in corporate America. Problem solved. How ‘bout a little perspective people? Look at what you’re wearing right now. Do you know the provenance of every stitch you have on? AA-customers do. There are MANY MANY more stores at the mall far more worthy of your vitriol. Are we sure this doesn’t have a little bit to do with our own body-consciousness issues here than any real injustices?
You make some good points, Pat. However, if you search this blog you will find posts about violent pornography and other issues that women face today. I found the controversy surrounding AA to be intriguing and worth posting about. I never said it was the worst problem we face in today’s society.
Might I also point out that my vitriol is quite mild in comparison with the words you just threw around (idiots, feminazis, and so on). Cheers.