American Apparel: Sleazy vs. Selling
Being an avid follower of latest brands and fashions, the recent uproar surrounding American Apparel has got me thinking about their somewhat sexual marketing techniques. Yes, i agree wholely with more volumptous models wearing their brands- but grinding in provocative poses and topless shoots have made me think about American Apparel’s controversial methods of selling.
It’s clear the image suits the brand; you have to have some serious confidence to wear most of their ultra tight and ultra shiny products. But models splayed out in suggestive poses don’t do it for me as a woman and someone who would buy the products… to me it just screams ‘sleazy’.
What confuses me the most is the fact that women would buy these clothes; not men- yet their recent releases feature many a boob bearing model. While this isn’t always a bad thing- at least in the right context- i dont understand why women would be drawn to a brand that seem to be glorifying the idea of selling yourself short- or maybe showing off your best assets. (For me the groin shot above doesn’t exactly sell me the product, though).
The picture above is an advertisement for American Apparel’s riding pant; of which we can see almost none.The brand has always had a reputation for advertising outside the box- but this seems to have been taken a little too far. Several campaigns from the brand have featured models who look younger than 16 years of age who were often topless or bottomless. These were later pulled, but the question still remains; if American Apparel are causing so much controversy, why do they continue?
It’s simple. They’re achieving exactly what they wanted to. A talked about controversial brand who don’t give a toss about critics or haters. They are selling products; and well too- so why stop now when the headlines are probably boosting their sales? We will just have to get used to their head on approach to advertising; because if you don’t like it, you will definitely have to lump it.
