Ilya Vedrashko's In-Game Advertising weblog has posted a nicely illustrated look at American Apparel's store opening in 'virtual world' Second Life, amusingly (and sarcastically) described as "the second biggest news of the week after Bill Gates' retirement".

One point made by a lot of virtual world watchers is that many big corporations are moving into Second Life for PR reasons (it looks cool!) rather than real-life CPM-style advertising (there aren't that many people in SL at any given point), and a Forbes story on the move is likely exactly the desired result they're looking for.

It's explained: "The initial fashion selection will offer 20 styles of American Apparel’s signature logo-free casual wear: basic T-shirts, tank tops, undergarments and swimwear. Second Life residents may be privy to real-world promotions and discounts from American Apparel, and the marketing tactic may boost actual sales with a link to the online store, the company said." However many people actually check it out, it does seem like good PR - and the GSW Second Life correspondent is just getting set up, so we'll see how they like it, too, in due course!