American Apparel’s Search for the Best Butt and Why We Removed Their Products from Our Store

Contest Button from American Apparel's Web Site

I debated writing about this topic, but when something makes me very angry, it’s hard not to. I wasn’t sure I wanted to give this company and their ‘campaign’ any more attention, but I feel that the issue that arises from it is worth the risk.

American Apparel is the largest clothing manufacturer in the U.S. They operate roughly 200 stores in 18 countries. It’s a company that touts itself as providing “fashionable basics for men, women, children, and babies.” They pride themselves on being “Made in the USA” and “Sweatshop free”—all good things that we consumers look for in a company we give money to. However, since they sell clothing and other products that are made for children, we feel their latest marketing campaign crosses the line. And I mean, crosses way over the line.

American Apparel is searching for the “Best Bottom in the World.” Sounds innocent enough, but if you view their site, it really isn’t. You have to be at least 18 years old to submit to them a picture of your derierre. Men and women are both eligible to submit pics, however, the pictures of contestants’ booties are predominantly female. Two lucky winners will be selected to be AA’s new “butt models” (their language, not mine). The page on their site where you can view all entries looks like a gallery of porn. To add to the absurdity of it all, site visitors are encouraged to not only score each entry on a scale from 1 to 5 but also comment on the entries. So if you see a bottom that’s less than perfect, you can let the entrant know your opinion. Very classy.

My problem with this is that they don’t just cater to adults. They sell clothing and other accessories for children and infants. If a preteen girl were to visit their website in search of the next hip, trendy item of clothing, she might find what she’s looking for alongside pictures from this butt contest (honestly, when visiting their web site, there’s no escaping it. Some of the entries are nearly bare. You can view the contest entries here).

What message does this send to girls? Sure, the contest is technically for both males and females, but really it’s the female booty that’s plastered all over the site. It appears as if the company borrowed one of Playboy’s site designers to create it. On one hand, someone might say American Apparel is just trying to have some fun and engage their customers. But they’re selling products to minors. Most major shopping malls have an American Apparel store. They want that “tween” business. But the message their sending is one that’s extremely sexualized. Girls might leave their website thinking that “it’s not important to be my best, just look my sexiest.” Remember, on American Apparel’s site, the sexiest butt wins.

Because of all of this, we at G is 4 Girl decided to remove five products from our store that were manufactured by American Apparel. Fortunately, that leaves us with many wonderful products to choose from that display our message of encouragement and empowerment for females everywhere, mostly made by Hanes.

If you are outraged by American Apparel’s marketing campaign, there is something you can do about it. You can sign a petition that was started by a wonderful organization for girls, Hardy Girls, Healthy Women. Check out their website to see an organization doing something positive for girls. You can sign the American Apparel petition right here.