Advice for American Apparel - don't do a bonehead move toward the end of the year

I'm not a big moviegoer, but even I realize that movies operate according to a particular timetable. There are movies that are suitable for summer, movies that are suitable for Halloween, and movies that are trying to get an Oscar nomination. The movies that fall in tha latter category tend to be released toward the end of the year, so that they are fresh in the minds of Oscar voters.

Let's see if you can guess what kind of movie this is.

"Al Gore and Newt Gingrich reunite in this buddy movie. They say that they're going to Florida to tour NASA facilities, but they're really planning one wild weekend!"

What kind of movie is this?

Is this option A, a summer blockbuster?

Is this option B, a Halloween thriller?

Is this option C, an Oscar-worthy performance?

Of course not. This is option D, the movie that is released in March because something has to be released at that time.

What does all of this have to do with American Apparel's misfired Hurricane Sandy sale, which I discussed back in October? Plenty.

You see, normally these things are big tempests in a teapot - something that everyone talks about for a few days until everyone completely forgets about it.

But American Apparel, in a neat little twist of timing, committed its blunder toward the end of the year.

And now, as the year ends, everyone is getting ready to assemble their end of year lists.

Guess what is making the lists from orgnaizations such as Business Insider (the 9th biggest PR disaster) and Yahoo (social media disaster number 6)?

You guessed it.