American Apparel Advertising: Genius or Dangerous?

Whether you shop at American Apparel or not, you have seen or at least heard of their advertisements. American Apparel is widely known for their provocative ads. When advertising clothes, like in the picture to the left, the model usually is just wearing the piece of clothing, sheer or not. The picture to the left is actually one of their modest advertisements too. Most clothing companies would steer clear of using nudity in their ads, but American Apparel is proud of it.

When I saw my first American Apparel ad it was for a lace body suit and the model was just wearing the lace body suit. Honestly, I couldn't believe a clothing company would allow such an ad. From a consumers point of view I was amazed by how daring American Apparel was to publish that type of ad. The ad did not make me want to buy the body suit, but I definitely remembered the ad and talked about it later with friends, which is exactly what American Apparel wanted me to do. American Apparel is proud of their advertisements because it sets them apart from their competitors and also catches the eye of anyone looking at it.

After researching their advertising strategy, I realized how much thought and meaning there actually is in their advertisements, not just to be different and sexual. On their website they state, "Our iconic ads reflect the diversity, individuality and independent spirit this company was founded on, with little regard for mainstream advertising trends." They also explain that all of their ads are made and produced fully by them. They do not hire ad agencies, make up artists, retouchers, or stylists and their models are fans, friends, and employees, not anyone famous. Their unique approach is actually quite genius. They don't produce provocative ads because they want to "be sexy", they produce provocative ads because it portrays their diversity. They also save money by doing it all themselves and not having to pay anyone else to do it. They aren't like a normal clothing company nor do they produce normal advertisements, but that's why they've been so successful so maybe they actually have the advertising world figured out and other companies have yet to catch on.

Advertisement source: http://www.americanapparel.net/presscenter/ads/ad.aspx?i=8979

American Apparel website: http://www.americanapparel.net/presscenter/ads/index.aspx