Vancouver American Apparel Store Fined for Displaying BUTT Porn

by Tina Kells | January 19, 2009 at 03:51 pm

2294 views | 8 Recommendations | 13 comments

An American Apparel outlet in West Vancouver, a suburban city outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, has been fined $100CAN after displaying a gay porn magazine called BUTT in the store window.

West Vancouver mother Trina Campbell was shopping with her 13-year old daughter when she saw the BUTT magazine rolled up in the backpack of a display mannequin. The risque title, BUTT, piqued her curiosity and she removed the magazine from the display to see what it was all about.

What Campbell found when she looked at the magazine was anything but (no pun intended) appropriate for a store that targets the teen market; BUTT is a gay porn magazine.

A West Vancouver by-law requires that all pornography be displayed under an opaque cover and this was the basis for the $100CAN fine.

American Apparel is now investigating the error but had no further comment at this time.

The fine was levied against the outlet of the Los Angeles-based clothing retailer on Wednesday under a city bylaw that requires adult magazines to be displayed under an opaque cover and at least 47 inches above the floor.
The fine followed a complaint by Trina Campbell, a West Vancouverite who found the magazine displayed in a backpack in the store while shopping with her 13-year-old daughter on Tuesday.

When she opened the magazine, entitled BUTT, it flipped open to an explicit double-page photograph of two men engaged in a sex act.

Bylaw officers laid the fine after hearing an interview with Campbell on CBC Radio on Wednesday, Liz Holitzki, the city's manager of bylaws, permits and inspections, told CBC News.

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158

at 17:55 on January 19th, 2009

I generally oppose censorship but porn must be kept away from children.

buck82

at 20:25 on January 19th, 2009

I was wondering when AA would get in trouble for that magazine. A $100 fine seems a little low, but I suppose it isn't really a big deal. Just put it behind the counter guys...

mtammas

at 20:27 on January 19th, 2009

It gets worse. Dig a little deeper and the very questionable practices of American Apparel seem to mirror the tastes of its Montreal-based founder, Dov Charney. His workplace behaviour is inappropriate in the extreme and includes ordering a female employee to simulate masturbation and wearing only underwear in to the office. He's faced five sexual harassment charges from employees in the past three years - four of which have been settled. Read more in this January 15 column by Vancouver Sun journalist, Daphne Bramham.

MattSPITF

at 01:30 on January 20th, 2009

Shot by Matthias Starte with a Polaroid Image2 in Dec08

MattSPITF has contributed a photo to this story.

Barry Artiste

at 07:49 on January 20th, 2009

Funny how porn must be covered with an opaque film, yet cigarettes must be hidden from view at all times. Yep.....Vangroovy BC, the Land of the Loonies!~

Non sensical laws like these are a big Pain in the Butt for taxpayers!!

Holy Crap, I just made a funny!!

eastvanray

at 10:18 on January 20th, 2009

I would not spend my money in a store that displays gay porn (even if they sold liquor and guns)!.

vcrucet

at 12:24 on January 20th, 2009

Photo of American Apparel sign

vcrucet has contributed a photo to this story.

davey_rukin

at 15:34 on January 21st, 2009

"loosen up" its all i want to say

davey_rukin has contributed a photo to this story.

Angieeeeeeeeeeeeeee (not verified)

at 13:33 on January 26th, 2009

Wow, shut up. It was ROLLED UP in a backpack POCKET. This retard opened up a magazine called Butt. Almost every cover of the magazine shows a partly, if not fully nude male. Wtf else would it be about?

She should have been fined for being a nit-wit.

With that said, legalize gay.

eastvanray

at 13:56 on January 26th, 2009

Puleeeese! The reaction would be no different if the magazine were entitled "Chicks who dig anal". The magazine was inappropriate in that particular retail environment regardless of the gender and sexual orientation of it's content. Stupid publicity stunt that backfired.

David_ca (not verified)

at 14:16 on January 27th, 2009

Um, have you been to an American Apparel? Butt Magazine is certainly not out of place or inappropriate in an American Apparel environment.

eastvanray

at 18:31 on January 27th, 2009

I have and I did not notice anything approaching porn. Did I miss something? And that, frankly, is irrelevent. What they did was wrong. Period. No context needed. It is not an "adult" store.

how to stop masturbation (not verified)

at 08:47 on July 27th, 2009

I believe that ads like this one from American Apparel would continue to proliferate because Charney, its founder is a pervert. Displaying obscenity in and out of the workplace is one thing, but disrespecting female employees like whores is another. I hope that he does time in jail and that he experiences getting butt raped by the berserk inmates day and night!