American Apparel slapped again

american-apparel-slapped-againAmerican Apparel, the US company which seems to pride itself in running controversial schoolgirl advertising, has once again been slapped down by the ad watchdog for using “gratuitous” imagery.
The latest row follows the launch of a “back to school” campaign on the retailer’s website and Instagram page promoting a school skirt.
The first of the two images showed a girl wearing the skirt, a top and white underwear, bending over to touch the ground, photographed from behind from a low angle. Her crotch and buttocks were visible. The second showed a girl wearing the skirt and a top leaning into a car, photographed from behind from a low angle. Her buttocks were visible.
Two complainants challenged whether the ads were offensive and irresponsible, because they were overtly sexual and inappropriate for a skirt advertised as school-wear.
In its defence, American Apparel – which recently fired founder Dov Charney for sexual misconduct only to rehire him as a consultant three weeks later – said it could see nothing wrong with the pictures.
It claimed they were not graphic, explicit or pornographic and said the models used were real people that were not portrayed in a manner that was vulnerable, negative or exploitative.
The retailer added the woman in the ads was in her 30s and that the images only ran on its website and social media, where people had opted in to see images “consistent with the American Apparel branding”.
But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was less than impressed, slamming the ads for their attempt to “imitate voyeuristic ‘up-skirt’ shots” that looked like they had been taken without consent.
It said that in the context of a skirt marketed to young women this had the potential to “normalise a predatory sexual behaviour” and “inappropriately sexualise school-age girls”.
Ruling the images were “gratuitous”, “sexist” and “objectified woman” it banned the ads, and once agan warned American Apparel to ensure its future advertising is prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and would not cause serious offence.
Last year, the US retailer had three ads banned in four months for using “overtly sexual images”, “sexualising a child” and using “unnecessarily sexual and inappropriate imagery”.

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1 Comment on "American Apparel slapped again"

  1. American Apparel slapped again http://t.co/2em37QXUub #digitalmarketing #advertising #directmarketing

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