American Apparel Strikes Marketing Gold in Sochi

Could Sochi turn into a sea of bright red hoodies, scarves, beanies and duffel bags? If so, American Apparel may have pulled off one of the greatest ambush marketing campaigns in Olympics history.

The Los Angeles-based brand, which has no official sponsorship ties to the upcoming winter events in Sochi, has launched a line of merchandise based on the Olympic charter’s Principle 6, which states that "Sport does not discriminate on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise.”

Several activist groups recruited American Apparel and spearheaded the Principle 6 campaign, which has a heavy social media element, to protest Russia’s anti-gay laws. They chose the Olympics’ own charter language in hopes that competing athletes could wear the clothing without running afoul of Russia’s homosexual “propaganda” ban or the Olympics’ rule against political speech. Read more...