We’re all used to American Apparel’s advertising style. Commercials seldom have much clothing in them, and a trip to the company’s Web site offers nipple sightings galore. Even their child models often pose in an arguably provocative manner.
But we pardon their questionable advertising because the clothing is produced in the U.S. by employees who earn fair wages and benefits. (It also helps that their painfully trendy neon T-shirts are our faves.)
But their latest campaign, a “best bottom contest,” has us wondering where the promotion crosses the line into exploitation.
For the contest, women (and a few men) sent in photos of their barely-covered derrières, and visitors to the site rated them on a scale of 1 to 5.
Almost 1,400 women submitted close-ups of their g-string- or hot-short-clad butts, and most of the photos show the back of topless torsos.
The lucky winners will become the new “faces of American Apparel underwear and intimates” (and we’re sure they’re using the term “faces” loosely).
But we suspect the contest is less about recruitment and more about luring people to the site with the promise of free images that are racier than a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover.
This certainly isn’t the worst of American Apparel’s behavior — it pales in comparison to the constant sexist advertising, its CEO’s blatant misogyny and the company’s refusal to support unionization. But the butt campaign is making us start to wonder whether American Apparel’s bad points outweigh the good.
