Lara declared:
Geek Chic
Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Does this advertisement look attractive to you? Does it make you want to wear glasses that don’t fit right? Does it make you want to throw on that pretty-average t-shirt and scream: I AM A NERD!
Well. I’m not quite sure what it says, but it does not suggest attractiveness.
American Apparel has been long known for their hideously ugly photos which tend to seem like amateur porn shoots (including bruises and stretch lines) of their models. My trouble is… where is the appeal? Sure the thought that this is shock advertising can be thrown out there.
Honestly? The initial shock that I receive only makes me click on the link and to decide to never buy the actual item.
Good work American Apparel.
Oh, and go read some “real” marketing analysis of AA here. And some more on the porn bit here:
Have you heard of American Apparel? Spreading fast, it is, opening multiple open-aired clean-cut brand-free stores across the nation and across five countries and they are, apparently, a big hit with hot urban chicks and lesbians and DJs and club kids and sporty types and grungy ’70s-inspired dudes who like to wear floppy hair and multiple layers of really simple clothing covered by nicely made hoodies of various primary colors, all without actually thinking they’re attaching themselves to a brand or a logo or a “look,” even though, of course, they very much are.
American Apparel. It was founded and is run by a talented and sexually nutty and increasingly notorious, mutton-chopped, ’70s-happy 36-year-old dude named Dov Charney, one of the more unique and controversial and libidinously open CEOs in all of corporate America, unafraid and unabashed and just a little greasy (click here to see a video interview with Charney, via Lou Dobbs).
And Dov, well, he happily indulges in consensual sexual relationships with members of his staff, and he uses tons of raunchy language in the workplace and posts old shots from Penthouse magazine up in his stores to complement the racy retro hipster club-kid design aesthetic, all despite a slew of sexual-harassment lawsuits now winging his way, fast.
Charney takes many of the company’s beautifully racy ad photos himself. He encourages a sexually open workplace atmosphere. He works not at all to hide his predilections, and most people claim he has never done anything that hasn’t been fully consensual, out in the open.
It still doesn’t make me want to buy the shirt (or glasses?) It just makes me feel dirty.
Snap, Crackle, Done! The 
This move is voluntary, and you may wonder why Kellog would make a move like this. Apparently, the threats of a lawsuit by two advocacy groups for children against Viacom prompted Kellog to reevaluate their situation. Kellog will now include a small “nutrition at a glance” section at the top of each box highlighting the amount of calories, sugar, and more.
I returned home this afternoon after a trip to the upper west side to my FUTURE college (go Bears… haha, like we actually get our feet dirty playing sports) AND picked up a copy of 
Yesterday I clicked through an interesting ad declaring… “
How many times has someone come at you with a “thanks for understanding,” “no offense,” or an “I appreciate it” to add that extra passive punch to coat their direct insult? My favorite passive aggressive notes are the business kind - a place where someone must be extremely polite (especially towards a customer) but would rather rip out their insides.
And another good chuckle: 
