AA: Managing Impressions (in Bed)

You may have been titillated. You may have been turned off (or on, I hope not). You may have been absolutely disgusted. Chances are however, you have have been perturbed by the proliferation of American Apparel ads featuring topless women and butt cheeks hanging around with reckless abandon. The “Downtown L.A”-based clothing provider has cultivated a reputation for the provocative and their advertisements are a clear indication of that. Some (heck most of them) are quite NSFW, but let’s just say that most of them have the occasional butt cheek/boob/crotch in plain view. I had a hard time looking for an ad I could actually post (surprise!) so you’ll all have to settle for this one (sorry men, no nudity here):

That’s AA President Dov Charney there hard at work trying to save the company as if it’s nobody’s business, flanked by his two gorgeous creative directors. In bed. The bolded caption reads: “In Bed with the Boss“. It’s an excellent example of how the power of marketing can be utilized to manage the consumer’s perceptions of and attitudes towards the company. Just months ago, American Apparel was facing bankruptcy and what better way to reassure the public than a genuine window into how one man (and his harem of employee-models) are lifting the company out of near disaster. And while there aren’t any naked models prancing around the ad, it still manages to maintain what AA calls its “provocative, real, unpretentious aesthetic”. Just like how Albertan beef farmers managed to reverse pubic fears over the whole Mad Cow disease scare by managing consumer attitudes, American Apparel is using this ad (and many others) to show the world that not only are they on top of things, but they have managed to keep the inventive spunk that has drawn droves of trendsetters to patronize the brand. Releasing a “boob-free” ad like this one is AA’s way of manipulating potential customers’ affective attitudes towards the company, by painting themselves as a company that at the end of the day can get things done.

Now how’s that for managing impressions (in bed)?