American Apparel Hasn’t Learned Anything From Its Plus Size Contest Disaster
Nancy Upton, the awesome lady who skewered American Apparel’s not-awesome “XLent” model search, has returned from the brand sponsored trip to Los Angeles she was offered after being disqualified from winning the contest. And sadly, while it appeared like American Apparel had good intentions when they organized the trip, Upton’s experience seems to show that they haven’t learned a thing.
RELATED: American Apparel Launches Awkward Plus-Sized Model Hunt
Iris Alonzo, the creative director who penned that nasty letter and disqualified Upton, organized full company tours of the factory and office, as well as a sit down meeting with the marketing heads behind the contest.
Upton writes:
After the factory tour and the office tour, we sat down with the creative team who organized the “Next BIG Thing” contest. They were less than thrilled to meet me, I’ll tell you that.
I was very happy with the way the meeting went. Despite the icy feelings from some of the women (which, I mean, are pretty understandable in a personal context), I felt like we had a really interesting discussion about marketing to plus-size women (hint: they’re made of flesh and blood just like you, market to them the same way you market to everyone…
At one point towards the end of the contest discussion, one employee looked like she was going to cry. Say what you want about the advertising, CEO and product (Lord knows I do), there are strong, passionate people behind this company, who I truly think mean the best in what they do and how they operate as a business.
RELATED: Plus Size Woman Skewers American Apparel’s ‘XLent’ Model Search
That sounds like the ideal scenario. Upton and the American Apparel reps have a meaningful conversation about what it means to not market like a bunch of jerks, everyone learns something, everyone leaves happy!
Unfortunately, this is the email Upton received from Alonso after returning from L.A.
“Marsha and I were trying to remember what we even talked about, and amidst all of the late night fun and cream puffs (compounded by the fact that we couldn’t re-watch the video of the meeting), we can hardly remember what was said at all.”
RELATED: American Apparel Director Sends Nasty Letter To Plus Size Contest Winner
Which is to say: the “interesting discussion” that made Upton feel like there were “strong, passionate people” behind this embattled company was apparently a bunch of “late night fun” and utterly secondary to the delicious cream puffs being served at the same time.
Alonso and American Apparel made some good moves by inviting Upton to Los Angeles and allowing for and encouraging a reasonable, enlightening conversation. However, they squandered anything gained from that opportunity by not caring enough to listen.
[Extra Wiggle Room via Jezebel.]
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http://www.facebook.com/michelle.jarvis1 Michelle Jarvis
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