American Apparel: Jealousy

Think about seeing your daughter, niece, cousin, mother, any female relative half naked on a billboard or an advertisement for a product. Disturbing, right? Many females in the advertisement industry are viewed as simple, sexual objects. They’re used for their overworked on bodies to catch the attention of men and to cause jealousy and envy from women. These advertisements are found everywhere: magazines, billboards, the internet, and stores. These ads can be excessively altered and cause women to think that they’re not thin enough or look young enough to attract men. American Apparel, a well known clothing company based in Los Angeles, has been on the radar for years for having some of the most controversial ads. American Apparel’s ads show

For example, American Apparel has an ad for high knee socks. In this ad, there’s is a girl laying down on a couch with no pants on, and no underwear on either. Using Jib Fowles’ Fifteen Appeals of Advertising, we can see the “Need for sex” and “Need for attention” appeals being used. The fact that this girl has no underwear on, it tells us that they’re depicting her as a sexual object. This may not cause much jealousy from other women, but it might make them believe that it’s okay for people to use them in this manner. The naked girl in the picture isn’t being appreciated for her face and/or achievements. We know this due to the fact that her face isn’t in the picture, just her lower

Once again, the “need for sex”, “need for attention”, and the “need to dominate” Jib Fowles appeals are shown. Most of the models used in the American Apparel ads are Caucasian, late-teens to mid 20’s, women with large breasts, perfect skin and facial features, brunettes and blondes, and skinny. This kind of swim suit ad might make women feel like they need to have this kind of body in order to look good. The model has perfect facial features with long straight hair and large breasts. Repeatedly, the model is being portrayed as a sexual object and not being recognized for her achievements, but is being recognized for her body. Almost all of American Apparel ads use women to catch the attention of many by having them pose in sexual