Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Disgust

Today started, like so many others, with criticism of a new American Apparel ad sweeping the feminist blogosphere.

However, what looks like an almost too good to be true piece of proof of Dov Charney's excruciatingly high sleaze-rating turned out to be just that. Too good to be true.

Sadly for those of us trying to get our friends to avoid American Apparel like a pair of plastic leggings, commenters on various blogs started calling out the ad as a fake. It appears like the mock-vertisement is an edited version of a relatively harmless (ignoring the upchuck factor that even a partial photo of Dov in bed inspires) previous ad. But don't delete your anti-AA emails just yet! The quote provided on the mock-vertisement is the real deal.

So what we are left with, at the end of the day, is a smart and biting piece of satire. And a disturbing reality. The fact that this mock-ad has any degree of believability is in of itself evidence of American Apparel and Dov Charney's unacceptable practices. Sure, American Apparel hasn't denied the existence of domestic violence in an advertisement. But their outspoken and notorious founder/CEO has. And their advertising strategy has been almost entirely based on a pseudo-pornographic aesthetic. The mock-vertisement fuses these aspects of the company together into one upsetting, extreme, and, to a certain degree, honest portrayal of an incredibly problematic company.