Recently, my group of friends were confronted with the task of obtaining costumes for Bay to Breakers which is an annual event in San Francisco that is essentially one long, crazy alcohol infused block party. The theme of our group was “Sesame Street” so naturally, everyone flocked to American Apparel for their outfits?!? There appeared no logic in this purchasing decision whatsoever. Yet, the store was packed with the prized 18-34 year old demographic in a line usually reserved for bread lines in Communist Russia. All were eagerly awaiting the opportunity to consume short shorts, tube socks and t-shirts at severely inflated prices. (In truth, besides my group, they really weren’t many in the 30+ zone, but please indulge me) It was also ironic that none of us ended up looking like Sesame Street characters. Additionally, nobody seemed to get my “Mexican Count”. Thankfully, amongst the other 30 odd people in our group they were a few legitimate costumes.
Despite or maybe because of a CEO that has been rumored to conduct interviews with attractive female applicants clad only in his briefs; American Apparel continues to thrive as one of the most distinctive and identifiable brands in existence today. The edgy clothing retailer has now become an afterthought as the go to destination for t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, or if you simply wish to look like you live in Brooklyn and love Tom Waits. Put it this way, if you play in a kickball league you immediately know where everybody is going to get your team uniform. Ditto if you’re an Internet start-up and want to make a company sweatshirt. This phenomenon all started as incredibly savvy, well positioned marketing strategy that properly targeted the influencers and hipsters on both coasts. The combination of a borderline pornographic ad campaign, which cheekily used store employees as models and the increasing popularity of all things “indie” fueled the conversation regarding the brand amongst tastemakers. The eventual migration into the mainstream’s consciousness was inevitable and continues to be amplified to the masses via good old fashioned, word-of-mouth marketing. In the trendy Marina in San Francisco that fateful morning, one can clearly envision hordes of twenty-somethings asking their peers where they were purchasing costumes for the big event and all receiving the same ubiquitous response of… “American Apparel.”
The funniest part is that American Apparel does not sell anything unique. One could easily mistake their clothes for Hanes except made to fit Smurf sized humans. Their catalogue contains mostly simple, basic items in a wide variety of colors that are made to fit either heroin junkies or a 20 year old Brit rockers, which I guess is really the same thing. The adoring public continues to pay incredible premiums on v-necks just for the opportunity to purchase it from a guy with an ironic moustache, who secretly despises you. However, there I stood, anxiously waiting in line ready to pay $50 for some tube socks and green “Prefontaine” shorts. Many came out with a befuddled face like my friend Ali below who paid $20 for a headband. However, deep down we both know we’ll be back because we’re that dumb and American Apparel is that smart.
Dr. Marten is one of those brands that will always have a significant cult following. It’s safe to say that as long as there are disenfranchised youth somewhere, Dr Marten will have a solid constituency. Recently they have become a little more aggressive in their marketing by placing ads on such hip sites as Pitchfork Media, MocoLoco and NOTCOT. It’s those quiet kids that roman the hallways that become the designer, musicians and architects of the world, I guess. The ad unit actually allows you to begin custom designing a boot for a few seconds, within the banner, before eventually taking you to the Dr. Marten site where you can complete the process. It’s nice to see such a storied, iconic brand take an innovative and fun approach to their marketing. Below is the actual unit as well as one I created with that one of my heroes, Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel gracing the boot.
Recently at FM, I had the opportunity work on the “Graffi-bee” contest held on the social application, “Graffiti”. This particular contest was sponsored by Haagen-Dazs, who have been very proactive at helping in the fight against colony collapse. Recently, the top 150 submissions were selected from the contest which garnered over 5000 entries, 1 million votes and over 800 “friends” during the 2 week run of the contest. Click image below to check out some of the mind blowing creations. Thus far, companies such as Dell, BMW and Wacom have taken advantage of the robust Graffiti community (9 mm+ members) to have people conduct enjoyable interactions with their brands. Graffiti initially gained popularity on Facebook, and has recently launched on MySpace and Hi 5 as well.
I generally tend to find advertising focused on targeting “bros” or your general neighborhood douchebag (Affliction t-shirt, Ed Hardy, Real world cast member, etc) annoying. So any body spray, beer/energy drink commercial usually results in a rolling of the proverbial eyes and wondering how so many people from the agency down to the brand signed off on such an asinine concept for the campaign. I’ve got to hand it to Amp Energy Drink however, they still managed to target the usual dumb mammal but did it in a witty, entertaining manner. However I am biased, because of my soft spot for all things that reference the “Walk of Shame”. Speaking of douchebags, I also included a clip of my favorite Real World cast member ever, “Joey” who should be on the fast track for his own reality show platform soon where we can all witness him binge drink, chow down protein shakes and inevitably, perish. Amp should underwrite his eventual demise.
I’ve never denied that I have an utterly sick and sometimes despicable sense of humor. Thus, the below video actually made me cry tears of laughter as I watched at my office desk…ahem, I mean comforts of my “home office”. The guy playing “Mr Mac” should have his own sitcom. Reserve me that spot in hell, right next to Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow for unleashing “Zohan” on the innocent masses.
Although, I thought that Flight of the Conchords tapered off after 3 outstanding initial episodes, the following video reveals they are in mid-season form. I tried to get tics to both of their shows in SF, and they sold out within minutes. This is definitely a positive economic indicator. I wish the Kiwis were a stock as I expect their market valuation to be 3x by the end of Season 2. This will undoubtedly lead to a mediocre movie with a guest appearance by Will Arnett.
I’m proud to state that during my office life, I help the group responsible for the production of the below video continue to do what they do, albeit in a small manner. Check out http://www.boingboing.net for more brilliance.
Kathleen, Kaley, Jeff and I being the rebels that we are, don’t adhere to many of the rules and guidelines set forth by contemporary society however, we are subservient to one particular doctrine. Whenever, the Sundance Kabuki theater releases a new movie in their main theatre, we promptly fire up Jeff’s Chevy Blazer, reserve 4 balcony seats and get prepared to indulge in some cinema and chardonnay. (BTW, who else do you know that owns a Chevy Blazer in Californa?)
Admittedly, I had extremely low expectation for “21″ as it looked predictable and completely unambitious. Despite being braced for a thorougly mediocre film experience, “21″ still managed to rank as one of the single most terrible movies I have seen in a long time.
1. “21” is based on the best selling book “Bringing Down the House” about an MIT math team that found a way to master Blackjack and kill it in Vegas casinos. I understand that true stories must be embellished to be made more appetizing for the general American public. However, the fact that the main character in the book Jeff Ma who is Asian, was portrayed by a poor man’s combo of Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace is simply disgraceful. One of the members on the team in “21″ is Asian but of course he is resembles an extra from the “Fast and the Furious” and is present mostly to be laughed at. I’m surprised his character did not hide in Kate Boswortsh’s luggage like the little dude from “Ocean’s 11″ and then karate kick a blackjack dealer. I can handle the fact that no Asian males will ever be represented on an MTV reality show, (actually, I’m glad of this) but it’s apparent that Hollywood has not come far from the days from Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of a Chinese/Japanese man in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, which might be the most single most offensive act of the last 3 centuries.
“Karma’s a bitch Rooney, you’ll expire soon enough!”
2. Worst use of montages EVER. The montage can be very effective, see “Teen Wolf” or “Karate Kid”. The montages in “21″ were awful, especially the one where everybody at the Ghost Bar jumps in the air at the same time just for shits and giggles. I don’t hit the club scene up much anymore but if people are now jumping in unison for no reason, my ass is going to be glued even more to the Laz-y-boy recliner. Another nauseating montage was the shopping spree where they the whole MIT crew gets decked out in Prada and wears sunglasses that only Persian clubgoers on Sunset in LA wear in real life.
3. Gratuitous use of sound effects. I didn’t know the Filipino card dealer turning over an “8 of clubs” after asking for “insurance” was worth of a whooshing sound usually reserved for a cheesy action movie directed by Mc G. Additionally, the “21″ crew may have been making money hand over foot, but I don’t need scenes of them striding down the Monte Carlo like “G unit”. Trust me, my uncle went to MIT and I love him to death but Bill Gates has a better haircut than him.
4. Furious Styles and Kyser Souze jump the shark. I guess Kevin Spacey is trying to quash the gay rumors by acting in movies that only a straight guy with terrible taste would choose to be involved in. Then again, once you do a movie with Haley Joel Osment, pretty much anything goes. Larry “aka” Furious Styles has also fallen to low depths since he was giving Tre’ fades and bedding every single baby mama west of Crenshaw. There’s a particularly disastrous scene at the end, where Fishbourne struts like he is Karl Lagerfeld striding out to greet Ashley Olsen at some castle in Milan, rather than an old time Vegas thug.
5. “Facial Recognition Software” - This phrase is uttered so many times that it begins to take on a similar presence as that of the threat of nuclear apocalypse in “Dr. Strangelove”. I would try to explain it, but maybe I’ll save that for the movie I hope to one day make about my life, starring one of the actors from “One Tree Hill” of course.
I used to pride myself and trumpet my ability to craft a good mix CD. However, the process of burning CDs and sending them out seems cumbersome and inefficient. Additionally, the hands of father time have begun to affect my ability to keep up with the times and the latest music trends. Here’s a good article by the Onion detailing how painstaking the process can be. Just when, I though I could never arrange again, Muxtape comes along to save the day which allows you to discover new music and share your latest mix with friends. Great functionality and I like how they used the Tumblr platform. One drawback is that it does not seem to accept MP4s. Click below to here a mix I found.
Much has been made about the migration of eyeballs online and the impending reality that the majority of media will be mostly consumed via the Internet. I, myself am a staunch proponent of this theory as much of my day is spent trumpeting the tremendous benefits of advertising online. Consequently, I must also admit that on rare occasions the result does not quite live up to the hype. The below is definitely NOT one of those times. My colleague Mac Delaney summed the below interactive ad up best when he stated that “softcore meets soft shells”. This is simply innovation at it’s best. Traditional media suffers yet another blow and kudos to Taco Bell. First the Mexican Pizza, now this. Click image below to start your shoot!
