American Apparel, a popular company in the fashion industry, is becoming very known to consumers mainly for controversy regarding the company’s business ethics. From their racy advertising campaigns to the extremely controversial CEO, Dov Charney, the company has constantly been under the scrutiny of the media.
I understand that advertisments that are out there and sometimes controversial can benefit the company in some cases by catching the attention of consumers, but what defines the point that this advertising is taken too far?
It brings into account business ethics and how far a company is willing to go to push its ethics to the limit without taking a huge negative toll from consumers and the media.
In my opinion, Charney has taken his advertising too far. Their advertisements use sexuality and exploit their model’s bodies in order to catch consumers’ attention. Ryan Holiday, American Apparel’s online advertising strategist, says
“We photograph models in a way that’s honest,”
but I agree with Leslie Goldman of The Huffington Post when she says it has now
“reached the point where good old-fashioned subconscious imagery has flown out the door and retailers are relying on the most obvious, explicit images possible.”
This also takes me to the point that some consumers may find themselves offended by the inappropriateness of the advertisments, especially parents of young children and parents of young adults of impressionable ages, where these ads act to promote sexuality in our society driven by influential media.
Click here for American Apparel’s Timeline of Controversy