User:BOBThaBuilda/Sandbox

Virtual Advertising in Second Life
Although American Apparel is known for their racy advertising style which is arguably similar to the 1970’s raw, borderline soft core porn style. Besides their outlandish and open minded way of presenting their products in the real world, American Apparel has branched their interests off to the virtual world in Second Life. American Apparel hired Aimee Weber to design their virtual store and merchandise. The store was designed by Weber and was completed and opened in Second Life on June 17 of 2006. Weber is a famed virtual content designer in Second Life and has worked with clients such as the United Nations, The American Cancer Society, Warner Music Group & Regina Spektor, and other big names to create virtual environments in the Second Life world. Similar to the graffiti found in games such as Counter-Strike, this is a more productive form of customization, and isn’t considered graffiti, in fact it was welcomed in the Second Life world.

Aimee designed the American Apparel facility on a private island called Lerappa (Apparel spelled backwards). The two story building is modeled after American Apparel’s Tokyo showroom which occupies 6,000 virtual square feet. The building is constructed in mostly glass and features lighting that change when the virtual world reaches night time. The store was created to emulate the real world stores with realistic textures that resemble the actual stores. An American Apparel store wouldn’t be official unless the large, somewhat distasteful blow-up advertisements from the controversials advertising campaign were found on the walls around the store. Also offered is a video podcast playable in the store via Quicktime. Outside the store, Weber included a stage for AA where live virtual bands can perform. Near the lake and lake house is an area in which the AA swim line is featured.

American Apparel includes their official lines of clothing in virtual form purchasable for less than 266 Linden, which equates to about $1 in real life. With the initial opening of the virtual store, 20 of American Apparel’s styles were offered. With the purchase of any of these pieces of virtual goods, AA includes a 15% discount code which is usable at their online store. Alternatively, second lifers can buy real world clothing inside the virtual store which is done through the company’s website and can be delivered to the buyer’s home. AA not only sold virtual and real world versions of their current line at their Lerappa Second Life location, but they also used the virtual store to test-market out their future lines in the virtual world before they hit the actual shelves at the real world stores. The opening of the virtual store was not a move to increase any real serious types of revenue but rather to experiment with a new advertising medium. About 10 days after the official opening of AA’s virtual store, they had made roughly enough money that a single American Apparel retail outlet in real life makes in one day. Raz Schionning, AA’s Web Director considers the Second Life venture as more of an experiment than anything, a “non profit-making venture.”

Second Life protesters (aka. Second Life Liberation Army) held a virtual protest opposing the company’s real world use of somewhat sexually explicit imagery found in AA’s advertising campaign. This may have been what could have sparked the attacks on AA’s virtual store. In February of 2007 the virtual location was attacked by virtual terrorists via “white balls” which were purposely placed in the store by the terrorists to temporarily obstruct areas of the screen.

American Apparel pulled out of Second Life’s virtual arena and closed virtual shop in the fourth quarter of 2007.