Politics wrapped in a clothing ad

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It is not often that a clothing advertisement includes the words “apartheid” and “purgatory” along with a quote from President Bush, but American Apparel has always been different from other consumer brand companies.

The clothing company, known for its tight-fitting jersey T-shirts and brazen attitude, regularly runs ads showing scantily-clad young people, photographed by the company’s founder and CEO, Dov Charney that some critics say border on the pornographic.

In a new series of ads, American Apparel is moving in a political direction. The cause is immigration reform, and the ads say in part that the status quo “amounts to an apartheid system” and should be overhauled to create a legal path for undocumented workers to gain citizenship in the US.

The black-and-white ads show American Apparel employees of Guatemalan origin—fully clothed. The ads have run in newspapers like The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. Like the company’s sexually charged ads for T-shirts and leggings, the political ad bears the imprint of Charney, himself an immigrant from Canada.

“These people don’t have freedom of mobility, they’re living in the shadows,” he said. “This is at the core of my company, at the core of my soul.”

Most advertisers try to steer miles away from controversy, particularly avoiding political issues that are as divisive as immigration. Benetton and Nike have run ads about social causes and companies are advocating for environmental change in their ads. But, advertising executives said, those issues were not the lighting rod that immigration tends to be. “This is an issue that elections are being decided on,” said Greg Stern, CEO of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, an advertising agency.

The company is used to publicity, some of it unwelcome. Charney has also been sued for sexual harassment by several employees who said he created an uncomfortable work environment. The company denies the accusations and is fighting a case in Los Angeles, where the company designs and manufactures all of its clothing.

The ads have generated attention for American Apparel, and the company has received letters of support, Charney said. Other companies privately lobby the government for policies, but he said he would rather be open about his position.