According to BostInno, American Apparel sent out this advertisement via email to its subscribers on the day Hurricane Sandy hit the United States. Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane ever measured by diameter, devastated Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic and part of Caribbean as well. American Apparel thought this could be a chance for them to advertise their sale plans. However, the damage in the US caused by Sandy is estimated to surpass $63 billion, and there were people killed in countries like Jamaica, Haiti and Puerto Rico. Was it really necessary for American Apparel to make the natural disaster sound so trivial and use words such as ‘bored during the storm’?

Many people who received this advertisement were offended by the way American Apparel used Sandy as advertising tool and the way it was phrased. However, Dov Charney, CEO of American Apparel, said “We don’t think it was offensive. We are sorry if people felt it was.” It might not had been intentional, but people thought it was inappropriate, and it definitely was not considerate of the victims of the storm. Just because it wasn’t intended to offend people, it doesn’t become okay to make use of a devastating disaster in an advertisement. If the company showed some respect for the victims and apologized for their hasty decision, the situation could have been better. However, the what the CEO said represented the company’s moral standards, and made me think about how their values were presented in that advertisement. What should be more important is not only getting their words out but considering their customers and current situations.

Although American Apparel did not make any false statements or had product safety issues, this kind of advertising definitely crosses the ethical line, and marketers need to have ethical principles when they make advertisements.