Bad sale over board??

A revolt by angry customers has forced Australian youth retailer General Pants to censor its in-store campaign for a fashion label that has teenage staff wearing "I love Sex'' badges and features naked mannequins and erotic videos.

Minister for Women Pru Goward said the retailer had "clearly overstepped the mark".

And young shop assistants told The Sunday Telegraph they were uneasy about the raunchy push for Sydney-based denim designers Ksubi and uncomfortable wearing the badges.

One female employee told The Sunday Telegraph the badges were inappropriate. However, she had to wear them at the instruction of management. "It's pretty degrading as a woman but there is nothing we can do," she said.

Another employee said she felt "uncomfortable" wearing the badge because she found it "embarrassing' and "demeaning".

"I don't think we should be encouraged to wear them," she said. "It's sending out the wrong message to our customers, who are generally young teenagers," she said.

The scene at General Pants store in Sydney where a racy sales campaign has been toned down

General Pants, which has stores across the state, toned down the displays after a backlash from shoppers and parents.

Along with the badges, posters of a semi-naked woman with gaffer tape on her breasts and a man unzipping her jeans were placed in store windows, and mannequins wearing only jeans are also being used to attract the attention of young shoppers.

General Pants CEO Craig King was forced to wind back the campaign, covering the posters with a black "censored" strip and dressing the mannequins with tops.

But the posters with the word "Sex" as well as the "I love Sex" badges will remain part of the promotion, which ends on May 16.

Staff said they were also forced to deal with shocked and angry shoppers.

"We had a lot coming in to complain about the posters and ask why the mannequins didn't have tops on," one employee said.

"The funny thing is there are no tops in the Ksubi range that we could have put on the mannequins anyway."

King said the campaign will remain in stores despite the complaints.

"Such an image isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, obviously," he said. "The concerns came from parents and we responded by covering up the contentious area."

He said it was a "bit of a stretch" to suggest that the campaign might encourage teenagers to have sex.

Goward, said she hoped General Pants employees were not pressured to wear the badges by their managers.

Ksubi's communications manager Gina Nixon played down the drama, saying "all models featured in the campaign are excited to be a part of this project".
Source: news.co.au

Published May 8 2011

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In order to stand up in this competitive market, we needed to be creative in many ways to boost sale.  I guess this time if not wardrobe malfunction then must be creative malfunction...hehe