. . . While Clothestime Ad Is a No-Show . . .

For Clothestime, which is struggling to bolster revenue so it can successfully exit U.S. Bankruptcy Court, getting in consumers’ faces meant first getting in the face of television executives--who responded by refusing to run a racy Clothestime commercial.

Armed with its rejection slips, Clothestime then declared war on the television networks. The Anaheim-based company alleged that television executives were hypocrites because they run hours of shows filled with murder and mayhem--but wouldn’t air its simple commercial.

Clothestime maintained that its “natural reaction” commercials--which portray a young man who’s apparently in the process of getting physically aroused by the sight of a woman--were created with “the goal of boosting the retailer’s sagging fortunes.”

According to the company’s news releases, the next advertisement in the planned series will feature a cross dresser. And, Clothestime said it will soon unveil the name of a celebrity model--but there’s been no word on whether it will be RuPaul.

Of interest: Clothestime’s racy advertising is handled by the same advertising agency--Mendelsohn/Zien Advertising--that created Carl’s Jr.’s “in your face” advertisements.

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Greg Johnson covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5950 and at [email protected]