College Candy

A couple months ago, we featured the creepiness that is Dov Charney, the owner of American Apparel.

Sure, the man looks like a serial killer and admits to getting it on with, like, every one of his employees, but he sure knows how to sell a product!

We’ve all seen the ads – the racy, half-naked and scantily clad models (think the HOT Abercrombie & Fitch ads meets younger-looking hipsters). There’s something raw about these ads, almost dirty – and that’s exactly what is getting younger-looking hipsters to buy into the brand.

According to AMNY, one of the store managers said, “This is the Lower East Side….I would be disappointed in the neighborhood if it was offended by this. It’s not pornographic. This is art.”

The catch?

“The American Apparel ad may be in violation of state penal code section 245, which makes the “public display of offensive sexual material” punishable by up to a year in jail. Yet the penal code only applies if the display “appeals to prurient interest in sex,” a murky legal definition that is very hard to prove in court,” says AMNY.

So, is it tasteless sex or is it art?

I say it’s neither. It’s good advertisement, plain and simple. It goes along with what they’ve been trying to do all along, and I’m not surprised. So what if it pushes the envelope? This country is already ridiculous when it comes to the “Sex Sells” motto! True, anyone looking at these videos is gonna think SEX immediately – especially American Apparel’s college-aged target. But everything makes us think sex. The bananas in the dining hall make us think sex. Why not enjoy some harmless porn-like advertising on your way to class? That is, if you’re lucky enough to live in NYC.

But then the double standard kicks in, which makes me mad. They can show boobs in their windows but no man junk? What gives? I guess that, in the end, this proves that boobs are no big deal anyway. These ads will only create more buzz for the brand.

Boobs sell. No big deal. We all got ‘em.