American Apparel recently fired their founder and chief executive Dov Charney and updated their code of ethics which explicitly bans
sexual abuse of their employees by managers, and we (the blog & I) have
been rather excited about this. Unfortunately though, this progress is still
not enough to get them off the JooJoo Azad boycott list,
as a simple updated code of ethics is not enough to change the entire culture
that American Apparel has created and perpetuated throughout its years.
Here are the 3 reasons why American Apparel is still
deserving of consumer (that’s you!) boycott:
1. Pedophilic Culture | I can’t be the only one who sees
AA’s ads and thinks they look like photographs from an underage sex-slave ring.
The brand purposely seeks out young-looking girls for pornographic-looking
advertisement, with many of their ads being banned in the UK and USA. Several
of the models in their racy advertisement have also been reported to being minors
under the age of 18. Unethical and illegal.
2. Female Degradation | in addition to hyper-sexualizing
young girls, American Apparel repeatedly objectifies and commercializes all women
externally, and degrades them internally: many accounts of racism (one black employee
has sued AA due to her manager repeatedly calling her racist terms) and sexual
misconduct from employers and photographers (surprise, surprise, right?) have
come out of American Apparel’s offices. The women (or should I say girls) in
the advertisements are in DIY-porn-like positions photographed at an obviously male-centered
perspective.
(In case you didn't know, the founder of American Apparel was accused of forcing an employee to perform sexual acts, kept another as a sex slave, and is accused of several accounts of sexual harassment. Think his ads of half-naked women in provocative poses were meant to be “sexually liberating” for women? Yaaaaah no. Nice try.)
This female degradation is clearly marked all over their site
and how they chose to express their products—comparing male and female models
modeling unisex pieces is a great example
(slightly NSFW):
For a company that is supposedly trying to sell clothing,
there is not much of it in their advertisements.
Sometimes, simply
being “sweatshop free” to whitewash the offensive and disgusting culture you've
perpetuated is not going to cut it, American Apparel~
<(')
P.S. Want to know what a particular brand made the JooJoo Azad Boycott List? Let me know!
P.P.S. Agree? Disagree? Let's chat! See you in the comments!
~ l e a v e a r e p l y ~
If you found this post useful, don't forget to spread the word! xx
Logo and image belong to American Apparel
If you found this post useful, don't forget to spread the word! xx
Logo and image belong to American Apparel
I've always wondered why AA's campaigns looked so lame. Seriously, some photos are even disgusting. Especially the ones that hint at racism and pedophilia. I totally stand behind your decision to put them in the boycott list!
ReplyDeletesunandsany
I agree with you, but I wondered if you've seen more recent reports about their rebranding attempts. Doesn't look like they're getting less racist, but they are starting to style their products in less overtly sexual ways. A lot of people are now upset because they're photoshopping out female anatomy in their item photos - http://fashionista.com/2015/03/american-apparel-airbrush-nipples.
ReplyDeleteI've never shopped at American Apparel and probably never will for precisely the reasons you've listed here. It's terrible but I've wished for them to go out of business before as well.
ReplyDeleteRowena @ rolala loves
I feel kinda bad about this... But I get a sense of glee when people talk badly about AA.
ReplyDeleteI think their ads are terrible. I've never shopped there.
I remember being absolutely horrified when seeing their ads for the first time and I still maintain that their campaigns and ads are so wrong on so many levels)...I rememeber reading somewhere about the scandals with the management (i.e. with the treatment of the employees) so I'm not suprised to read things are as bad as this....it is indeed terrible that things like that happen in today's world.
ReplyDeleteHonestly! It looks like novice photography and uncomfortable models. Haha happy to hear you're being the boycott, as well! xx Now to get the word out! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking the article, Leah! It definitely presents a very different argument from mine, and I think it's rather interesting! To be quite honest, I'm not sure if I agree with the author though, as American Apparel, to the best of my knowledge does not *really* promote body confidence as the majority of their models are white and thin (maybe not as skinny as traditional models, but I don't see anyone above the size of a 4 or 8--please do correct me if I'm wrong)! I also am a bit conflicted about the photoshopping out female anatomy--what are your thoughts on this?
ReplyDeleteHahaha oh no, trust me Vanessa, you're not the only one! ;)
ReplyDeleteGlad you're on board--it's also important to spread the word!
Yeah something about a naked 14 girl in a seductive pose above the door to the store has always driven me away ahaha
ReplyDeleteI've also featured this comment so others can weigh in as well ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on every point. I was really excited when I first heard they had fired Dov Charney, and was hoping that the company would make more significant changes in its advertising. Thanks so much for writing this post!
ReplyDelete-Helen
http://www.sweethelengrace.com
wow. This is horrible, i'm in complete shock. I always felt like their ads were short of weird but didn't know a lot about it. I never shopped there tbh, now i'm glad I didn't. thanks for this crucial information.
ReplyDeleteLove
Pili
Records of my Troubles
I like that they're styling their clothes in more wearable, less sensual ways, but I don't necessarily think it's a great idea to censor nipples or pubic hair in item photos. It's false advertising, really, so I don't see why they need to cover it up. I do think, however, that print ads should be less overtly sexual and not feature women who look underage. I'm all for celebrating female freedom and sexuality, but I think there are healthier ways to do it. The print ads reek of the male gaze. But women who side with the article bring up valid points that American Apparel was at least featuring more varied body types without photo shopping.
ReplyDeleteUgh, agreed. AA has always been on my boycott list because of the ridiculous objectification of women. Even with their rebranding, I'm not very hopeful for this brand. Definitely continuing to boycott this brand!
ReplyDeleteThe Dragonfruit Diaries
I didn't like AA campiagns, but I think that all this talking about the brand is free advertising.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is all a commercial strategy...
xxx
S
http://s-fashion-avenue.blogspot.it
OMG, I had no idea about these things, but I always noticed that theirs campaigns are awful. Luckily, in my country AA hasn't had his store yet, but even it will has someday - I won't do my shopping there. Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeletehttp://crafty-zone.blogspot.com/
I always hated AA campaigns, and it always looked to me porn-like and I didn't understand why they keep doing same advertising over and over again. Maybe now they'll finally change it!
ReplyDeleteTanya
www.stripesnvibes.com
BlogLovin
i've always been bothered with AA ads.. thanks for clearly pointing it out in this post!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Animated Confessions
AA is awful. Their new brand standards are not much better either. They are trying to be less sexual in an attempt to salvage the company but they are also like, ditching the naturalness of their models and going for whiter, thinner ones and basically trying to make them look less like real people.
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly surprised by how many brands get away with pedophilic imagery. Like Marc Jacobs does so much of that nonsense, it's honestly a little terrifying to me every time I see a "Daisy" ad in a magazine.
-- Harper
harperhoney.com
I've seen this too. I don't know if, to Hoda's point, AA ever promoted body confidence, but I think that AA did do a pretty good job of making their women look like real people you'd see at a party. The photos always looked like someone's own personal photoshoot or something, not an ad campaign for a national brand. You could see pubes and hints of nipples, like you would if someone wore the clothing that exact same way, and I think there's something to be said for that kind of honesty. Women are constantly shamed for being hairy and our nipples are supposed to be these mysterious magical things that are super duper sexual compared to male nipples, so I think there is something to be said of a brand demystifying our reality. But all in all AA is super awful and I don't think they'll survive.
ReplyDeleteGod AA is so gross. Plus their clothes are just so unoriginal and overpriced. No thank you.
ReplyDeletexx
scarlettandgiselle.blogspot.com
Haha I'm glad I could share in the excitement with you at the firing of Dov Charney! Honestly, how does he sleep at night?!
ReplyDeleteI guess since this was a fairly recent firing, we'll just have to see where AA takes their new advertising but so far it doesn't look to thrilling :/
Oh yes, just a bit of investigative work can really turn up some rather frightening information! I didn't know half of this prior to starting my research!
ReplyDeleteWoo! #BoycottAmericanApparel! Commending you on your dedication to ethics, Linda! xx
ReplyDeleteHahah that's actually a fairly good point! But I think the fact that they have been playing at the line of bankruptcy for some time is proving it's not that effective! (plus I purposely avoided linking them in this article so they wouldn't get any backlinks from me! hahaha)
ReplyDeleteLet's hope so, Tanya! But according to a few other comments it seems like they are now pushing a different idealized view of women's bodies by editing out body parts like nipples or pubic hair, which could also potentially be problematic?
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping by! xx Have a great day as well!
ReplyDelete*snap* *snap* *snap*
ReplyDelete#ugh honestly. So many male-led advertisement departments need to realize that you can't really sell female sex to females as you might think -_- Or better yet, just no sex at all? Where are the ads with the smart women?!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and contribution to this conversation, Harper!
So you and @Leah make good points about the positive of showing nipples and body hair in advertisements--I guess I just coupled that with the male gaze in the ads and together it seemed less for the appreciation of honesty but something a little more comfortable. This is also personal opinion, obviously, but I don't think there is even a need for women to be modeling clothing if it's transparent (let alone the purpose of transparent clothing ahah but that's another story)--I think that is just setting yourself up for controversy!
ReplyDeleteI think the female body needs to be appreciated but not in a sexual way--it gets too much "appreciation" (if you could even call it that) in mainstream media, porn, and male magazines. Why can't we celebrate women's bodies by showing them as part of a larger, intelligent, strong, human being?
Wait, Leah, do you get notifications when we reply on this thread (see below comments)? Also I can't believe he is suing for wrongful termination. What a horrid person.
ReplyDeleteIdk. The thing is, I am okay with sexualization of adult consenting women, but I'm really uncomfortable with their objectification. Unfortunately the two are deeply intertwined because of the way society views female sexuality in terms of women being objects versus men as agents of their sexuality. Like, men are always portrayed as powerful in their sexuality, whereas women are most often the consumed, the submissive, the disembodied. I agree that women's bodies need to be portrayed in much more ways than just sexual ones, but I also think that there is a way to portray women as sexual without exploiting them as objects, and I think that needs to be elevated as well.
ReplyDeleteIf women wanna buy transparent clothing that's their prerogative but AA was kidding themselves if they didn't think that was a turn off for a significant amount of consumers.
wow I didn't know any of this! now I think I might have to boycott which sucks because I love their clothing :(
ReplyDeleteYeah it's really rather unfortunate that such a large-scale and well-known brand is such a cold and cruel place. Boycotting brands you love can be really difficult--for me saying goodbye to GAP was not easy--but I think it's really important to stand up for what you believe in, Courtney! :)
ReplyDeleteI've never had a chance to shop AA since I live in Europe. Though I've read stories about its campaigns. But these talks will definitely increase people's web views to its shop certainly.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's true that posts like this have a potential to make the brand known in places where it was previously unknown, but I think that AA is so close to bankruptcy I don't think this would be particularly helpful to them? Haha also I'm hoping that a post like this won't encourage people to buy from them ;)
ReplyDeleteBut you do make a good point, Mai! I wonder if there is a way to raise awareness to the injustices going on behind a brand without giving it press?
I wouldn't spend one cent in their stores or online. I just googled the store and looked at images, wow. Seedy creepy photos.
ReplyDeleteHm, I don't know how to reply.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it, AA acted respectfully. AA fired an employee who sexually abused another employee and withdrawn consequences towards racist comments. I am disappointed that important fact is forgotten. AA is one of few who manufacture their clothes JUST AND ONLY in US and thanks to that they provide their employees not only with social benefits, but also opportunity to fight for their rights in case of any abuse. If such comment happened in eg India, nobody would hear about it, no one would be punished and there would be nothing to boycott. AA do not place their factories in countries where their employees can't bring justice, don't you find it great?
About advertisement query... I agree that 'too sexual' advertisement should be punished. As each culture has different norms and I may be from liberal environment it is hard for me to judge it.
Thank you for sharing this, it made me think :)
gross, right!? And most of their ads are banned now even and google censors some too--and they wanted to put those in public places!
ReplyDeleteHey Anja!
ReplyDeleteYou make a lot of really great and important points! But I think it is important not to let AA whitewash its problems with its ads, models, and empoyers' (&CEO) code of conduct by the claim that they are manufactured in the USA. Companies SHOULD be providing social benefits for their employees! The fact that they do this doesn't mean thought that they are given a free pass for doing other unacceptable things, like using underage models in sexualized campaign ads. Well, that's my opinion anyway!
I'd like to hear if you agree or disagree! :)
Hi Hoda, I have to admit that you are totally right! All companies should provide their employees good conditions, social benefits and so on. It is just that I always liked about AA that they are one of these who actually do it. As I wrote before with advertisements and its sexual aspect I struggle to judge it. In my culture I am bombarded with half naked woman in very controversial situations ( I remember first time I have seen Sisley advertisements- it shocked me like nothing ever after!). It is sad to admit I am so used to this images that I stopped finding them disturbing. Pls don't understand me wrong, I am not pro using woman's bodies to sell products. Basing on our most natural instincts just make any company to earn more is disgusting! But as I said I am surrounded with it and I became less sensitive in this subject.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reply! :) Have a nice day!
I definitely agree with you in that we are all getting so desensitized to sexualized advertisements of women--I live in the USA so I'm surrounded with it too, so I know what you mean! :)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think this is also something that we shouldn't be comfortable with. I think this type of media plays such an important part of the rape culture in the USA--if women are always depicted around you in association with sex, it's difficult to see women as much more than that.
But thank you for adding to such a great discussion, Anna! xx