Theres no escaping it- advertising is everywhere. Cities are plastered with billboards and posters announcing new movies, clothing sales, restaurants, lawyers and everything in between. Online we are bombarded with ads on nearly every website we access.
With so many businesses competing for our attention and money, it comes as no surprise that companies hire teams to create the most shocking, and eye-catching ads they can get away with. In order to capture that shock-factor, many companies go the sex appeal route, using scantily-clad models in seductive poses to promote their businesses.
Clothing company, American Apparel, is notorious for their scandalous ads and sexy image. They have built an entire brand around sex appeal, but they seem to be exploiting and over-sexualizing young women in the process. American Apparel ads have often raised controversy, but their latest campaign has taken it a step too far. The company has been accused of creating an image comparable to “underage porn,” according to The Independent. They describe the Back To School line in question, as “featuring young women posing in different school settings” and had “the effect of inappropriately sexualising school-age girls.” Images included photos of a girl bending over in a short skirt, taken from the back at an up-skirt angle, and creating a peeping-tom look. While it can be argued that American Apparel is just doing what they feel necessary to sell their clothes, there are better ways to gain attention. UT sophomore and business management major, Kaela Fields, believes the company did not need to use these images and stated that “business professionals should make ethics a priority.” By sexualising young women in their advertisements, American Apparel is paying little attention to ethics.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) agreed with the complaints of these questionable ads, calling them “sexist and likely to cause serious and widespread offense,” according to The Independent. The ASA also stated that the “imitated voyeuristic ‘up-skirt’ shots had the potential to normalise a predatory sexual behaviour.” In today’s rape-culture, we need to do everything we can to expel the acceptance of sexual harassment and rape. While a risqué ad may seem miles away from sexual assault, advertisements like those used by American Apparel fuel the fire. By creating an atmosphere of objectification and sexualisation of women in the media, we allow that atmosphere to be integrated and accepted in society.
American Apparel does not seem to see the problem with their overly sexual images, stating that the models in their back to school ads are “happy, relaxed and confident in expression and pose and were not portrayed in a manner which was vulnerable, negative or exploitive.” Regardless of the brand’s comments standing behind their campaign, the ads were banned by the ASA in Britain, and rightfully so. American Apparel is completely disregarding the impression their ads are capable of having on audiences, including young children.
The company doesn’t seem to be learning from their mistakes either; this isn’t the first time the brand has been accused of pornographic advertisements. In 2012, they were called into question by the ASA for a set of photos featuring topless girls, as well as in 2009 for a photo that “could be seen to sexualise a model who appeared to be a child, under the age of 16,” according to The Guardian.
American Apparel needs to take the negative and sexist impact their ads are having on society seriously and begin to make changes in their marketing techniques. Fortunately, following the Back To School campaign, the company “pulled the offending pictures from its Instagram account and website,” according to http://www.dailymail.uk. Hopefully this small effort is a step in the right direction for American Apparel and will lead to them being more responsible in the future.
Emily Silverman can be reached at emily.silverman@spartans.ut.edu