The American in Peril

... and, yes, I stole that title to my post, from a girl we all like to call Baby Bird.

Anyway, Smythe's analysis of the extra labor of the modern-day laborer brought to mind another example that I thought I'd toss into the mix: American Apparel. The reason this company springs to the forefront of my consideration with reference to Smythe has to do with the work performed by "consumer audiences" and consumers-as-laborers alike: "[Consumers] work to create the demand for advertised goods which is the purpose of the monolopy capitalist system" (6). At American Apparel, however, a company that prides itself on being completed "vertically integrated," this scheme is intensified: it uses -- or at least reports to often use -- its own employees as models in its smuttily retro ad campaign (what is less often reported here is that American Apparel also utilizes a cast of well-known porn stars in its ads as well). So, here, we see the employees themselves functioning to sell a message to a demographic of consumers, expanding the function and meaning of their wage-slavery to the capitalist enterprise (for it certainly is: American Apparel has grossed a year-end profit of $250 million, a number which continues to rise). And, like all the scum-sucking, child-labor-exploiting clothing stores that American Apparel pretends not to emulate, it requires its employees to wear its clothing while at work, the neo-Fordist hypocrisy of which should be self-evident since it's employees make just above minimum wage so they can buy t-shirts that they, or people like them, make which run upwards of $18 each.

Matt Mason, in a truly ridiculous book called The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture is Reinventing Capitalism, calls this "punk capitalism," a term that makes me a little green and gooey inside. While the "capitalism" inherent in the American Apparel company model is probably obvious, the "punk" aspect appears a bit more elusive. I think it's safe to say that the following facts do not contribute to the company's punk ethic: the lawsuits which have been filed against American Apparel by scores of female employees (on the grounds of sexual harassment, varying degrees of "exploitation" on the job, and, in some cases, being told that they would need to lose weight in order to avoid being fired); the CEO, Dov Charney, who has been personally sued on similar grounds; and using your employees to sell your brand to your employees (or to audiences of consumers who are won by the exploited labor of your employees). It seems that the only thing "vertically integrated" about this company is its consumption, not production.

Spoof American Apparel ads and outright attacks, such as the one included at the top of this post, are part of a small campaign of resistance by both "audiences" and employees alike.