than sneaky teens who put on clothes three time and watch clock like they plan invasion of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Seems to me like the ad is intended to be some kind of unofficial "whisper campaign" for JCPenney teen apparel. You know how now so many companies have discovered that the way to be cool is to not advertise and instead create a "buzz" about their product? What better way to advertise jeans to the teenage crowd than to create an internet ad that wasn't "supposed" to be created and then have it spread 'grassroots' style through website links and email forwards. This is merely how "sex sells" the 21st century way. How daring! How rebellious! How radically underground! How sexual! How appealing to youth! How to sell products to a generation used to the world wide web!

I don't see what the big deal was.

Carole, I hope you're not the mother of teenagers, cuz if you thought *this* is what was happening:

"a pair of skinny teenagers dressing and undressing in front of a mirror, watching a clock count down the seconds till the guy arrives at the girl's house so that they can have sex in the basement"

you totally misread what was happening. Obviously they are practicing putting on their clothes extremely quickly--like for when Mom knocks at the basement door and calls out "What's going on down there?"

Maybe the Broadsheet people see different American Apparel ads than I do. I see their print ads all the time, and they always seem pretty sexy, and actually rather understated and classy. What am I missing here?

Seems to me that, as a culture/society/species, the best thing we could do is spread the belief and understanding that ALL advertising for EVERYTHING is just a stupid trick.

No one should take anything they ever see in a TV commercial seriously.

If we could all agree to that and honor it, I think we'd all benefit a great deal.

It amazes me that things like this are reported as news. It almost seems like there's some phony hype machine that generates "controversy" hype for preferred advertisers' brands.

I'm open to the idea that this is important somehow. Anyone have any evidence of that?

it's guerilla marketing. As someone said, it is a whisper campaign designed to make Penney's seem hip, something it has tried desperately to do for decades.

Think about it. An ambitious NY ad kid spends beaucoup time and money and risk to craft a sophisticated lame joke? I can imagine Arnold Horshack with his jackass laugh as being the sort of guy who would laugh at something like this.

Moreso, any kid wanting to knock something like this out would do it in his spare time with friends and a vidcam, not commandeering professional contacts to spend ad company time to produce what amounts to a weak joke.

JCPenney got what it wanted from the ad agency, lots of viral marketing and an injection of coolness.

I am with those who think that JC Penney's is trying to pull a fast one and increase their hipness quotient. But, I have to say that I think what it implies is actually positive-that both the boy and girl are "planning" to have sex. Had they included a condom in their preparation sequence, I would have been ecstatic.

I am not exactly happy about the notion that my daughter will one day be sexually active, but my hope is that when she does it will be because she made an active decision rather than just "letting it happen."

They are both trying on the same outfits every time, rather quickly, then looking at the watch. The girl is even trying to smooth down her hair afterwards. They are practicing how to appear normal in the time in takes mom to make it downstairs.

I too found the ad rather unoffensive. Why do we keep thinking teens aren't sexual beings, even those of us who have grown up in the 70s and 80s when teen sex was pretty much a given (alas, except for me, I never had a boyfriend in high school, but I would've done something had I had one)?

One of my friends favorite stories was of when her mom, who knew what she would be doing with her boyfriend in the basement, was trying to ward off dad from going downstairs. He was saying he has a right to go down in his own basement, yada, yada as mom tried to desperately stop him. Meanwhile, in their effort to get dressed as quickly as possible, the boyfriend put on her hot pink corduroy OP shorts, which is what dad saw him in!

Personally, I'd rather have my kids fooling around in the basement than out in a park somewhere, or at a party where other kids could attempt to sneak a peak and then spread rumours about it. And why do we even have to assume they're having "actual sex"? They might just be messing around and doing everything but. Again, whats the frikkin big deal about this ad?

And yes, count me in with those who thinks Penney's knew exactly what they were doing with this whisper ad. Heck, it made Broadsheet or else I'd never know about it!

Using sex to sell crap. Old story. Of course, this particular ad graced the viewers with a few discreet shots of teenage ass, just in case you missed the point -- or, just in case you want to hit pause.

Teenagers have sex, and that's fine and good as long as they keep it safe, but there's something sleazy and downright sh*tty about adults making money off of that. To paraphrase Pink Floyd: hey advertisers, leave them kids alone!

We can go back to just pretending we don't know it exists like we have ever since the establishment of the modern sociological model?

Oh, high school. Although I never practiced speed-dressing, I did know that it took about 25 seconds for my girlfriend's mother to get down to the family room once we heard the upstairs door open. And unlike these kids, we wisely avoided anything with noisy buckles or metal pieces. Ahhh, to be 16....