Recently gone-public clothing sensation American Apparel (AMEX: APP) has a new marketing campaign, and it isn't just about selling clothes.

According to the New York Times, "In a new series of ads, American Apparel is moving in a political direction. The cause is immigration reform, and the ads say in part that the status quo "amounts to an apartheid system" and should be overhauled to create a legal path for undocumented workers to gain citizenship in the United States."

American Apparel CEO Dov Charney has never shied away from controversy. In a recent post on BloggingStocks, I discussed some of the more bizarre antics of his career and it isn't just erotic advertising. This is a guy who actually masturbated in front of a reporter during an interview with Jane magazine.

It isn't that I doubt the sincerity of Mr. Charney's beliefs about immigration. As he said, "These people don't have freedom of mobility, they're living in the shadows. This is at the core of my company, at the core of my soul."

The problem is that, now that American Apparel is public, it isn't just Mr. Charney's company. Now he has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders, and putting his company at the center of divisive issues may not be in their best interests. When a company is private, it gets to make decisions about what's important, and certainly has a right to use its own resources to take a stand for causes that are important to the owner. But as a public company, American Apparel has a responsibility to focus its resources on increasing its profits.

As intriguing as the company's growth is, I do question whether Mr. Charney is well-suited to run a public company. He's a brilliant maverick and an ingenious entrepreneur, but dancing to his own drum may alienate Main Street ... and Wall Street.

American Apparel takes a stand on immigration reform -- Good business? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.