If this ad didn’t have the words American Apparel across the white strip, it would be impossible to guess what the ad was actually about, or represented. It could be about anything. Is it an ad for condoms? Is it an ad for women who have extraordinary long left feet? Is it an ad for Julie’s All You Can Eat Buffet? Alas, it is an ad for American Apparel. Of course, I should have known that, the girl in the picture is wearing leg warmers.

Some say these type of ads are great because it loosens North American attitudes towards sexuality. I, on the other hand, think these ads are creepy and are nothing more than pseudo porn.

Dov Charney, CEO of American Apparel, has done many things that, as a Libertarian, I can applaud. He refused to bend to outsourcing his manufacturing overseas and has everything in his stores made in the good ole USA. He has a fair wage policy and he’s somewhat of a union buster. That’s being said, he’s a pervert and pretty creepy, his stores are laced with soft porn images, and he overtly sexualizes women.

Some would say that if you don’t like what Dov is peddling, don’t shop in his store. Personally, I don’t. Mind you, I’m over 100 lbs and have a chest and shoulders, so it’s impossible to find anything that fits at American Apparel. However, American Apparel has a kids section, and their print advertising caters to tweens now. They’ll tell you that’s not the demographic they’re shooting for, but have a boo inside one of their stores one day, it’s always filled with pre-pube boys and girls. So, in order for little boys and girls to shop at AA, they have to walk through Dov’s store that is filled with perv ads and questionable pictures. And the last I heard, AA still accepts their money.

The picture that you see is a billboard ad. You can see the crack of the woman’s ass in the picture. If I want to surf for nude, or semi-nude images of women on the interwebs, that’s my private business. But having ads that everyone, including little children, are exposed to, well that’s just plain sick. We can’t get around these ads, they are in our face every day whether we like it or not. There isn’t even a message to this ad. It is a nude woman with her legs apart with a slogan over her nether region.

This isn’t about freedom of expression, this is about morality. Dov Charney says he’s moral, but when it comes down to it, he’s anything but. I vote with my wallet, as should you. American Apparel doesn’t get my vote.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Advertisements, shock value. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.