Everyone Loses with American Apparel's Plus Size Ad Campaign...

 After reading last weeks edition of the Marquette Tribune, a rather disturbing ad campaign contest was brought to my attention by Viewpoints writer Bridget Gamble.

The contest she called into question in her article, "Fashion Industry Less Pro-Female Than It Looks", was run by the company everyone loved to hate this past year, American Apparel.

Famous for its racy advertisements, stick-thin models and morally bankrupt CEO, American Apparel has not made a particularly wholesome or positive name for itself in the past.

The introduction of a plus-size female line, however, seemed to be an attempt on their part to change their negative image. They created an online contest to find the model and concept for their new plus-size ad campaign. Women sent in pictures with the idea that whoever got the most online viewer votes would win the contest and be in their very own American Apparel ad campaign. The results of the contest, however, we're not to American Apparel's liking.

The winner was 24-year-old actress Nancy Upton. According to Rina Raphael's article for The Look Today, "American Apparel's plus-size contest winner minus prizes," Upton decided to submit "spoof" pictures to call attention to the "patronizing" and inappropriate tones of the contest's name ("The Next BIG Thing") and announcement. Upton's photos, which featured her in numerous scandalous poses, scantily clad and seductively eating food, were, in my opinion, her attempt to show how she interpreted American Apparel's image of plus size women.

American Apparel took offense to Upton's controversial ads, and despite the web's adoration of her, refused to give her the contest's prizes. 

I think that the result of American Apparel's ad campaign contest is an absolutely perfect example of how advertising and, particularly, language in advertising can infuriate and alienate a company's target audience. It is imperative to chose appropriate language and to make sure that the images representing the company are ones which portray the company in the best light possible. 

In my opinion, American Apparel REALLY dropped the ball on this ad campaign contest. Instead of creating the image that their ideal plus-size model is normal and beautiful they advertised it as almost a joke, with what Upton called, "fake, cutesy words like 'bootylicious' instead of positive ones like 'sexy' or 'gorgeous.'" They should have thought about how their target audience would interpret the language of their contest announcement. Perhaps if they had they would have been able to run a successful ad campaign instead of creating yet another PR mess to clean up.