Google-apps-script – Format a Google Sheets cell in plaintext via Apps Script

Using Google Apps Script, I want to set the format for a Google Sheets cell to plain text.

The reason I want to do this is because I want to show a date in the U.S. date format (MM/DD/YYYY). [We can assume the locale in the OP's Google account is set to use DD/MM/YYYY, a more common date format. –Ed.]

I create the string like this:

var thisDate = Utilities.formatDate (new Date (), SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet (). getSpreadsheetTimeZone (), "MM / d / yyyy");

… which returns the date in the U.S. format, 06/13/2012, which is what I want. However, when I set the value of a cell to that string:

sheet.getRange (1, n). setValue (thisDate);

… the date is formatted into the cell according to my locale, 13/06/2012, not the U.S. format.

The following operation also fails, because the date is returned in the standard format, not the U.S. format:

sheet.getRange (1, n). getValue () == "06/13/2012"

When the cell is formatted as plain text, and not a date, everything works fine.

So, my question is, how to format a cell using JavaScript.