For years, the clothing brand American Apparel has made its name through "edgy" advertising characterized by attractive women modeling its products in sexy poses while wearing as little clothing as possible.
On Wednesday, the company's board of directors ousted CEO and co-founder Dov Charney, a man who reportedly called his female employees "sluts," masturbated during an interview with a female reporter, and claims an impressive tally of sexual harassment lawsuits.
Reuters reports that part of the reason for Charney's firing was his decision not to prevent an American Apparel employee from posting to the internet nude photos of a female employee who (unsuccessfully) sued Charney for keeping her as a sex slave.
But rest assured, Charney's departure will not inspire the company he founded to reckon with a corporate culture that appears to objectify and degrade women.
In an interview with Adweek, American Apparel director of marketing Ryan Holiday said the company will not change the marketing strategy that has given the world ads like this:
This:
American Apparel
And this:
American Apparel
Holiday told Adweek that sexuality has always been a part of the company's advertising and that there would be "no reason for us to abandon the brand that we've built and that our customers love."
"We're going to continue to push the envelope and speak to our customers with our advertisements, as we always have," Holiday told Adweek.
