In the wake of this week’s deadly storm that ravaged the Eastern Seaboard, leaving at least two dozen people dead, American Apparel offered a 20% off sale, checkout code SANDYSALE.
With the email blast announcing the sale, the Twittersphere exploded with disgust at what they believed was the retailer taking advantage of a tragedy to increase sales.
It should be noted that a search on Twitter for SANDYSALE brings up a number of other retailers offering discounts during the disaster, including The Gap.
What do you think? Is American Apparel’s themed sale opportunistic?
An American Apparel Hurricane Sandy Sale? Which 22-year-old genius intern came up with this one?
@copyblogger
Brian Clark
About The Good Feed Blog Editors
Sales is intrinsically “opportunistic”. That said, a little on the tasteless side. If a percentage of the proceeds went to victims & disaster relief, then they & others could have shown “taste” & built a charitable image or brand at the same time.
Ummm, their owner is mentally unbalanced. Has been for as long as he has been in the LA garment world. I don’t mean “he’s crazy dude” but that if this were 30 years ago, he probably would have been committed by now. His legal bills over the years have been a hefty reminder of just how removed from reality the world he lives in happens to be. Like so many before him, he has focused some of his manic energy, surrounded himself with the best and brightest (and a hefty supply of marketing people who believe in his laughable hipster world order), and made good. What’s more, nobody will argue with the number of jobs he has created in Los Angeles. Being offended by the lack of taste this sale might present, however, is like being upset when you get a rock thrown at your head, and YOU assumed it would be softer. That one is on you people.
Isn’t this just “putting relief into the hands of the private sector” like Gov. Romney is calling for?
Seems a little tacky. On the other hand, it can be both opportunistic and helpful. It’s still a discount. The really reprehensible thing would be if they marked up prices 20% and then declared a 20% sale.
So, to protest, we should only buy clothes at full retail price?…..
Fits Dov Charney and all this wanna be hipster AA community…