Garage faces backlash over sexualized ads critics say target young shoppers

Garage clothing brand is facing scrutiny over its ads that some say are too racy for its young clientele.

The clothing store Garage is coming under a lot of criticism over ads that some say are too racy for its young clientele.

One of their items is a t-shirt that says: “This top looks better wet.”

“It’s full with teenagers … so nobody in their 20s really goes there to shop," said author Elizabeth Lemay.

Garage is popular with tweens and teens but the company says, “Today our consumer is a confident, unapologetic, fashion shopper in her mid-twenties.”

”Our campaigns represent her confidence and embody her empowerment.“

”What is interesting about Garage’s response is the way it links the sexualization of young women to power," Lemay said.

Independent public relations firm Agence Brouillard says the company now saying it’s for an older clientele is a departure from what it was built on.

“The fact is if you’re doing this, you’re changing your target ... and you need to be really clear about that change in the way you address your customers,” said president Florence Brouillard.

Brouillard says the eye-catching images remind her of American Apparel campaigns from the 2000s, although those ones were much more explicit but had the same effect of making people talk by being provocative.“

I’m surprised they’re not changing it and they’re not changing the narrative. It just blurs what good brand ethics is,” Brouillard said, which can be considered effective marketing.

“Sex makes people talk and talking is winning, regardless of whether the talking is favourable or unfavourable,” said Vivek Astvansh, professor of marketing at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management.

It’s a tactic he says Garage has used for years, hoping shoppers buy into the old adages that sex sells.