special_boots ([info]special_boots) wrote in [info]feminist,
@ 2005-09-16 23:53:00
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Entry tags:activism, sexism, shopping

I wrote to American Apparel a while back to express my disgust about their "Girls of American Apparel" calendar. I used an email address I don't check much, so when I used it today I was surprised to notice that I'd gotten a response.





Dear American Apparel:

I always bought your stuff because I felt like it was the socially
responsible thing to do, and I like that. So I can't believe this "Girls of
American Apparel" crap. What are you, Playboy? It's irresponsible and
kinda gross -- not to mention jaw-droppingly sexist -- that you're using this
soft-core porn to sell your clothes. Shame on you.

Your former customer,

Serena G.


Serena,

The next calendar will be a "Boys of American Apparel."

Please feel free to write back if you have further comments.

Thanks,

Helen Jung



Dear Helen,

How refreshing to hear from a human being. Thanks for your response.

It's interesting that you are doing a "Boys of American Apparel" calendar, but I don't think that makes it right. I realize that sex sells, and putting attractive teenagers in sexual poses doubtlessly makes a lot of money for your company. God knows it's a time-honored form of advertising.

But once I started looking at your ads, I became more and more disturbed. They have this amateur porn feel that, while undoubtedly "edgy," is just incredibly creepy. It makes me think of some nasty old man making little kids pose in his basement. And I don't think that's entirely unintentional.

The fact that men are being used as sexual objects more these days is not exactly a shining victory for egalitarianism. Can you at all see the allure of a world where the implicit message of every ad is not, "Nubile young people will have sex with you if you buy our products?" That the teens in your ads look so heartbreakingly young makes it even worse.

I realize that one peeved former customer isn't exactly going to put a dent in your profit margins. But it's nice to think that you or someone might actually read this and think, just for a minute, about what I'm saying.

Oh, and as a nineteen-year-old college student with disposable income, I'm definitely a member of your target market.

Serena G.


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[info]sorenr
2005-09-17 07:13 am UTC (link)
Good letters you wrote. Sometimes it's tempting to be scornful and caustic in such letters of complaint, but the point just stands so strong when it's all politely phrased and courteous. Well done.

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 07:15 am UTC (link)
I can't tell if that was sarcasm... I hope not, though, so I'll just say thank you.

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[info]sorenr
2005-09-17 07:29 am UTC (link)
Hehe...

DAMN!!!

I realised that it might sound sarcastic, so I even tried altering it to make it clear that it was actually earnestly meant. Clearly I failed. I did actually mean it to be understood quite literally. (These bloody times when sarcasm and irony seems to be the default mode of expression; makes it very hard to say something straight every now and then.)

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 04:28 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I know, the fucking internet. You can never tell what anyone means.

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[info]in_my_frame
2005-09-17 07:51 am UTC (link)
i googled in hopes to find pictures from the calendar but i had no luck. i feel stupid for never hearing of this company before, but if someone could direct me towards a link, i'd appreciate it.

and i really think your letters are fantastic.

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[info]szkradz
2005-09-17 08:05 am UTC (link)
http://www.americanapparel.net/ - above the main pic is an "archived photo collections link," then there's a whole section on their models. it's not a direct link to the calendar, but the photos are very typical of their overall ad campaign. (there may be a link to the actual calendar as well if you poke around more than i felt like doing ;)

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[info]aegwenn
2005-09-17 08:46 pm UTC (link)
. . . I looked through the gallery and I completey see where you were coming from. Several of the pictures did look like they'd be adverts on the front of a soft porn box o.O I've never shopped at American Apparel and, after seeing that, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to start.

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 04:28 pm UTC (link)
The Onion bears their ads a lot, to my intense dismay.

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[info]twiggy_twee
2005-09-17 11:49 am UTC (link)
Dov Charney makes my blood boil.

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[info]goodlookinout
2005-09-17 03:32 pm UTC (link)
seriously. I hate him so fucking much.

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[info]quatre_vingts
2005-09-17 05:14 pm UTC (link)
Is he the asshat who's in charge of the company and was actually fooling around with a female employee while giving an interview? I adore the way their t-shirts fit, and I like that they're non-sweatshop, but...ugh.

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[info]goodlookinout
2005-09-17 05:52 pm UTC (link)
he's the president. not only does he have sexual harassment charges pending from multiple people in the company, but he also requires headshots for retail people applying, masturbated in front of the interviewer from Jane during the interview, but also said in the interview that WOMEN INITIATE MOST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. after that, I will never shop there ever. Plus, they are really anti-union which is totally bullshit.

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[info]so_gracefully
2005-09-17 08:03 pm UTC (link)
my thoughts exactly. sufficiently troubling to so many of my personal sensibilities to never even consider buying from them ever again, ever ever ever.

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end account
[info]krazyhippie
2005-09-17 02:01 pm UTC (link)
Very well said!

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[info]plette
2005-09-17 02:13 pm UTC (link)
Kudos to you. If everyone wrote letters when they cared about something, I think advertising would be a different industry.

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[info]bodlon
2005-09-17 02:37 pm UTC (link)
See, I'm really pro-porn, but I'm somewhat anti-advertising/anti-corporate.

I have no idea what to think of the above other than "It's great they're doing both genders," and "But what does that have to do with t-shirts?"

Of course, the age of the models probably has a LOT to do with their intended market.

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 04:26 pm UTC (link)
It doesn't really have anything to do with being pro- or anti-porn. I'm not anti-porn myself. What I am against is disgusting ad campaigns that *look* like child porn -- especially given that they're aimed at young people. Fabulous message to send and all.

Feel free to go look at their ads, then come back and tell me what you think.

Oh, the age of the models is at the very low end of their intended market. But it wouldn't be "edgy" if they looked like actual adults.

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[info]bodlon
2005-09-17 06:41 pm UTC (link)
Honestly? They don't look that young to me. They look like the people I work with on campus.

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 09:09 pm UTC (link)
*shrug*

Everything's subjective, I s'pose.

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[info]cesarica
2005-09-17 03:41 pm UTC (link)
but...aren't MOST clothing companies like that? Why pick this one to single out? Or are they significantly worse? (I've never heard of them, so I wouldn't know.)

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 04:23 pm UTC (link)
The thing about American Apparel is they cultivate this whole image of being socially responsible because their clothes are made in America. So I bought their clothes for a long time. But their CEO is a misogynistic prick (see above comments, he's Dov Charney) and their ad campaigns are scary and exploitative. These are not Gap ads, my friends.

In fact, at the moment I can think of no other mainstream clothing company whose ads are so awful, although I'm sure that there are others.

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[info]cesarica
2005-09-17 04:49 pm UTC (link)
the name sounds familiar...wait...isn't this the guy who said he doesn't airbrush his models, or something like that? Or...am I thinking of something else?

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 09:10 pm UTC (link)
probably... read the comments here to see some of the many, many reasons why the "man" is a subhuman piece of filth. It makes me so annoyed that they're like, oh we are soooo cool because we don't use sweatshops and don't airbrush, but they're really a bunch of hypocritical assholes.

grumble grumble grumble.

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[info]trinityva
2005-09-17 05:14 pm UTC (link)
Well, even if the ads werent offensive, giving money to someone who thinks domestic violence is initiated by women and who masturbates in front of women at random and has sex with female employees would be gross anyway.

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 09:11 pm UTC (link)
No kidding. Not to mention his anti-union stance and the fact that he has complained that there's too much focus on their good labor practices. Which to me indicates that he probably plans to worsen them shortly.

That company makes me want to break things.

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[info]celandinex
2005-09-17 10:11 pm UTC (link)
You should be proud of yourself.

(this post is completely sarcasm proof, by the way.)

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[info]special_boots
2005-09-17 10:19 pm UTC (link)
hee! Thank you.

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