American Apparel is an influential brand in American fashion, priding itself on being a socially responsible, anti- sweat shop company. Their advertisements, however, depict predominantly underage-looking women in explicit, sexually provocative poses, displayed brazenly in high traffic public places. The ads are visually abusive, controversial, and are capitalizing on the "cool" credibility of the company to distort the border between art and pornography.

People have the right to not be accosted by illicit sexuality when waiting for the bus, driving their car, or surfing the web.  The stark images of spread legs and bare butts may be appealing to some customers, but more often evoke shock from passers-by.  The uncensored display of gratuitous sexual ads should not be equated to mere freedom of speech because it is propagating harmful misconceptions about what sex should look like: young, skinny, and exhibitionist.

American Apparel should not use their good reputation to manipulate the public into accepting these graphic images as benign. They should rethink their advertising to focus on the clothes they make, not the overt sexual culture they are glorifying.

We ask that American Apparel cease the production of these ads immediately, and remove all ads currently displayed.