Legalize LA was an activist campaign promoting

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

for

illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

, propagated through billboards, protests, clothing, advertisements, educational pamphlets, and grass roots support, underwritten by

American Apparel American Apparel Inc. is a North American clothing retailer. The brand began with operating retail stores between the late 1980s and late 2010s. Its operations are based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in ...

.American Apparel Scoops the Candidates on Immigration
Suman Raghunathan. January 18th. 2008 Originating locally in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the company took the campaign national in early 2008.

Campaign

Legalize LA was billed as an education and media advertising campaign. According to

Dov Charney Dov Charney (born January 31, 1969) is a Canadian entrepreneur and clothing manufacturer. He is the founder of American Apparel, which was one of the largest garment manufacturers in the United States until its bankruptcy in 2015. Charney was ...

, Legalize LA was an open alternative to private

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

. Charney also stated that the cause is part of the core of the company. Choosing to advertise social causes not directly related to the fashion company's product has drawn comparisons to campaigns done by advertisers like

United Colors of Benetton Benetton Group S.r.l. () is a global fashion brand based in Ponzano Veneto, Italy, founded in 1965. Benetton Group has a network of about 5,000 stores worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton family's holding company Ediz ...

and

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

. American Apparel released a line of T-shirts featuring the words "Legalize LA" that were sold in its retail locations. The company donates the proceeds of the shirts to Los Angeles-based immigration rights groups. Legalize LA participated in the

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

protests in 2008. American Apparel employees were given the day off work to participate. The company also maintained a Legalize LA portion of their website that featured news articles relating to immigration reform, the brand and information on the history of the issue.

Legalize LA ran advertisement

that pushed for the legalization of the country's illegal alien workers in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''.American Apparel Ad
Featured in the ''New York Times''. December 2007 The ads appeared in both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and English. One ad featured a quote from President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

expressing the need for immigration reform and asked why nothing had been done. It ended with the words "It's time to Legalize LA and the USA." Ads have also implied that the current laws constitute an "apartheid." Another campaign used an excerpt from

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

's essay, ''

A Nation of Immigrants ''A Nation of Immigrants'' () is a 1958 book on American immigration by then U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The name of the book is a reference to the fact that the United States is a country whose population is predominantly ...

''. The company also put up billboards, bus stop ads and posters throughout Los Angeles. They also placed two large banners across their downtown factory that read "Legalize LA" and "Immigration Reform Now!"

Reception

The company's message was later endorsed by

California Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Neithe ...

Speaker

Fabian Nuñez Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

, according to the ''

''. He gave a speech denouncing

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

's raids on "nonexploitive" companies underneath the Legalize LA banner at the downtown Los Angeles factory alongside company executives. One group responded by picketing the company's store in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

with signs that said "Legalize LA: Deport Immigrants". A group called Save Our State uploaded a series of protest videos on YouTube renaming "Legalize LA" as "Amnesty for Illegal Aliens." The videos feature the group picketing outside of the company's Hollywood store. American Apparel also received

hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...

regarding the campaign which they subsequently posted online. Angered by the company's politics, a group launched a website called BoycottAmericanApparel.com that gave away stickers to participants. The campaign also inspired ''

Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company V ...

'' to release a video

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

called ''Illegal LA - Immigration, Deportation, and the Right to Work'' that featured Dov Charney and other immigration figures.

Legalize Gay

In November 2008, after the passing of

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned by the ...

, which banned same-sex marriages in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, American Apparel created "Legalize Gay" (a play on Legalize LA) T-shirts to hand out to protesters at rallies. The reaction was so strong, American Apparel began selling the same shirts at stores and online. On July 20, 2009, the window of an American Apparel store was broken by vandalism in response to the campaign. In the next two days, employees at the Silver Spring location as well as the Georgetown store received threatening phone calls, with the perpetrators demanding the T-shirts be taken down. American Apparel asserted the company would not take the T-shirts down and instead, insisted every store in the Washington DC area display a "Legalize Gay" shirt. The company also offered to give the shirts to any gay rights group in DC who wanted one. The company has also been criticized for carrying '' Butt'' Magazine, a gay culture publication, though American Apparel refuses to discontinue carrying it citing it as an "important gay culture publication" and freedom of expression.Mother criticizes American Apparel store for displaying porno magazine
CBC News

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official Legalize LA HomepageWhat Does Legalize LA Mean?
(pdf)
Legalize LA Photos
(Flickr) American advertising slogans 2008 quotations Advertising campaigns Illegal immigration to the United States Immigrant rights activism Immigration-related protests in the United States Organizations based in Los Angeles

Campaign

Ads

Reception

Legalize Gay

See also

References

External links