May 10, 2007
11:07 PM   Subscribe

American Apparel has a perplexing new ad campaign. The company explains: "Woody Allen is our spiritual leader." via.
posted by milestogo (48 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: oy gevalt -- cortex



 
Super DO NOT WANT freakout.
posted by flotson at 11:09 PM on May 10, 2007 [1 favorite]


I feel like there's some sense of inevitability here.
posted by ninjew at 11:09 PM on May 10, 2007


Does that mean the underdressed models will now be adopted before sex is had with them?
posted by yeloson at 11:11 PM on May 10, 2007 [2 favorites]


My sabbat goy will be around to call for a deletion any moment.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 11:15 PM on May 10, 2007 [1 favorite]


I've given up trying to make sense of this company.
posted by maryh at 11:18 PM on May 10, 2007


Could you picture Woody Allen running a sweatshop? I thought not.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:20 PM on May 10, 2007


Does this strike anyone else as a bizarro version of Apple's "Think Different" campaign?
posted by monosyllabic at 11:25 PM on May 10, 2007


I've seen the owner of American Apparel interviewed. My instincts tell me that his spiritual leader is probably more the step-child-screwing Woody Allen and less the genius-of-comedy-and-film-making Woody Allen.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:27 PM on May 10, 2007


I'm not finding any all-cotton sweatshop free tallis.
posted by ninjew at 11:29 PM on May 10, 2007




[this is not the best of the web]
posted by gen at 11:36 PM on May 10, 2007


American Apparel has a perplexing new ad campaign.
posted by Sticherbeast at 12:22 AM on May 11, 2007


I think it's working.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:26 AM on May 11, 2007


O...kay.
posted by Many bubbles at 12:28 AM on May 11, 2007


American Apparel has a perplexing new ad campaign.
posted by lazymonster at 1:15 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


Is this a viral?
posted by MrMustard at 1:17 AM on May 11, 2007


I get a feeling MeFi is being gamed here. The user who posted this joined 1 May and this is his/her first post. Can anybody smell marketing?
posted by humblepigeon at 1:21 AM on May 11, 2007


moderator please hope us delete this post before we drown in pepsi blue
posted by gen at 1:41 AM on May 11, 2007



Rat Balls.
Meh Sandwich.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:00 AM on May 11, 2007


ApparelTube Forever! Makin' life better and better!
posted by ikkyu2 at 2:52 AM on May 11, 2007


Dov Charney: 17,000,000
Decorum: 0
posted by ambulance blues at 3:06 AM on May 11, 2007


yeah why would Woody Allen give the rights to them for this image? Has he ever endorsed anything or been part of a marketing thing like this? don't think so...

That said, i wouldn't mind his image on the back of every magazine/free weekly i read on the bus or wherever instead of slutty 17 year olds wearing bathing suits with leggings. i'm so sick of this faux 80's shit and it's kinda embarrassing to carry around!
posted by rollerball at 3:13 AM on May 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


I will admit....if I'm trying to have a conversation with someone, and there's a newspaper sitting on the table with an American Apparel ad facing up, I have to turn the newspaper over. It's just too skeezily distracting.

(Have never bought any of their crappy clothing.)
posted by HeroZero at 4:05 AM on May 11, 2007


Can anyone here explain to me in a short, incisive statement what exactly it is about their usual ads that freak me out so much, and why they somehow look like (intentionally-contrived-as-) amateur porn? I was trying to express this discomfort to someone a few days ago and just failed miserably to put it succinctly...
posted by gignomai at 4:22 AM on May 11, 2007


Seeing these sorts of advertising links on Metafilter usually induces in me a sort of apoplectic rage, but in this instance I think the ad is pretty cool. Yes if what I read on Gawker is only partially accurate Dov Charney is a pretty sketchy dude, but this is good.
(I think Woody Allen has given up his image for such things before - wasn't he in one of those X-wore-khakis ads for Gap? - and I can imagine he might appreciate this)
posted by Flashman at 4:25 AM on May 11, 2007


Can I be an internet nerd for a minute here?

Thanks. I can't stand American Apparel. I hate the attitude that its advertising presents, I hate the semi-porn attitude of the photos in an already porn-saturated culture (Hay guys! Let's replace one form of exploitation for another!*), I hate the fact that all my friends think they're being independent when they buy clothes from there. The cognitive dissonance that I associate with American Apparel is such that I've occasionally had to stop reading websites that plaster themselves with their ads. (Oh, and Jesus: this is the only company that makes me hate sans serif fonts.) Like, the arrogance and starkness of their branding campaign even manages to annoy me more than Stella Artois', which strikes me as near impossible unless you're an ad rep for Ketel One.

And doesn't this image appear when Allen's making fun of Keaton's anti-semitic mother? The cognitive dissonance of their advertising makes my head want to explode, and then there's the added bit of being angry at myself for getting so worked up over a small campaign like this, which is exactly what they frickkin' want. Because they know that even if I never buy their clothing, even if I convince a friend or two not to buy it, every rant like this one makes someone else consider buying it, just to not be like "that guy."

Fuck it, put me in the car with Duane and bring on the headlights.

*Lack of exploited workers implied and not guaranteed.
posted by thecaddy at 4:36 AM on May 11, 2007


It's like good old Pepsi, EXCEPT IT'S BLUE!!!!
posted by Pollomacho at 4:41 AM on May 11, 2007


Can anyone here explain to me in a short, incisive statement what exactly it is about their usual ads that freak me out so much, and why they somehow look like (intentionally-contrived-as-) amateur porn?

1.) They don't use models. They use employees.
2.) The pictures are grainy.
3.) They ripped the whole thing off Terry Richardson, who has a penchant for making amateur porn out of fahsion photography.
posted by mkb at 4:43 AM on May 11, 2007


No. Not Woody. Find your inspiration elsewhere Dov and go away.
posted by allen.spaulding at 5:05 AM on May 11, 2007


Odd. Sorta tickles my brain. But, and I usually don't say this, it's not really "best of the web." There's a place for chat about American Apparel, isn't there?
posted by MarshallPoe at 5:09 AM on May 11, 2007


so have we decided if this is real? can someone just go look who lives in NY? kthx
posted by rollerball at 5:14 AM on May 11, 2007


The billboard pictured is near their new store on the Lower East Side, on Delancy and Houston. It's pretty much the heart of the Jewish immigrant experience from about 100 years ago. Perhaps with the Woody ad they're paying homage to their American-made garmet-industry roots. In addition, of course, to their love of sexy teenage girls, which gives them, well, a Woody.

Personally I find it far wittier than their quasi porno ads. But I still won't spend $20 bucks on a T-shirt the size of low-fat bagel.
posted by DenOfSizer at 5:24 AM on May 11, 2007


I don't think they could have gotten their logo to look any more similar to a certain other company's logo, could they? At least not without being sued.

I think I'll stick with United Apparel, I have more frequent-buyer miles with them, anyway.
posted by kcds at 5:32 AM on May 11, 2007


Uhm, the jewlicious.com site also happens to have ads for American Apparel on their banner. Dubious post at best.
posted by furtive at 5:37 AM on May 11, 2007


I'll be the one person to stick up for the porn ads. They're awesome. Bruises, scars and all. Best part of the Village Voice or the Onion.

If you have a problem with them, go back to church.
posted by fungible at 5:46 AM on May 11, 2007


I'm sorry, but that guy Voz is the Grand Poobah of Disgusting Sleazeballs. Any points he may earn for being anti-sweatshop are completely nullified by his skeeziness in a million other unnecessary & gross directions. So I don't get it. Just. Ick.

YMMV.
posted by miss lynnster at 5:56 AM on May 11, 2007


I have been somewhat successful at ignoring their ads for a while now. But riding down flatbush last week I noticed they took over the space previously occupied by the Pavilion theatre, and I now hate them.

This ad made me laugh (and wish I could pronounce hebrew without the vowels) when I saw it, and it's better than the typical tart display that only reinforces Qutb's view of America.
posted by Busithoth at 5:59 AM on May 11, 2007


I just wish their damn shirts wouldn't wrinkle. I don't know what it is about the free-trade dolphin-safe cotton they use, but the AA t-shirts I have come out of the dryer looking like puckery crumpled wads when regular shirts in the same load all look fine.

Hate the ads too, but I see the shirts more than I see the ads.
posted by bink at 6:09 AM on May 11, 2007



this, from up stream a youTube video mashing 'America reality model-something show with Dov Charneyesque creepiness, put it pretty nicely.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:10 AM on May 11, 2007


Grand Poobah Cheezeburger of Disbusting Sleazeballs "bury them"
posted by acro at 6:10 AM on May 11, 2007


The whole point of the ad is to be strange and get noticed. And YOURE ALL FALLING FOR IT.

That said the ability of this company to bring out the prude in people is really suprising.
posted by delmoi at 6:11 AM on May 11, 2007



so have we decided if this is real? can someone just go look who lives in NY? kthx


My friend lives directly across the street from this ad. I'll take having Woody staring at me while we hang out on her roof deck any day over having the 15 foot tall spreadeagled leg warmer teen porn billboard that used to be there. As soon as she gets on IM I can ask her to verify if this is in fact the new billboard.
posted by spicynuts at 6:12 AM on May 11, 2007


Besides, the irony of using a guy named Woody in their ads....delicious.
posted by spicynuts at 6:13 AM on May 11, 2007


Thats what you think delmoi, But in the meantime, it will serve it's real purpose, which is not to advance the frontiers of human knowledge, but to influence contemporary political debates. Congratulations, acro delmoi, for making yourself a small cog in that infernal machine....
(sorry fb)
posted by acro at 6:19 AM on May 11, 2007


Isn't that Elvis Costello?
posted by kirkaracha at 6:30 AM on May 11, 2007


Can anyone here explain to me in a short, incisive statement what exactly it is about their usual ads that freak me out so much, and why they somehow look like (intentionally-contrived-as-) amateur porn?

1) Open casting gets few profession models, but they have hired a few porn stars in their ads ( I wish I could find a link, but an amazing number of stuff comes up when you try to google for this).

2) It's not just that it looks like porn, it looks like porn crossed with a hostage photo. Lighting, polaroid, the whole shebang.
posted by piratebowling at 6:34 AM on May 11, 2007


the billboard's real, for crying out loud.
posted by Busithoth at 6:38 AM on May 11, 2007




it's real...and it's fantastic.

to quote a certain 90s sitcom.

posted by spicynuts at 6:45 AM on May 11, 2007


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