Saks Arms New Ads with Soviet Kitsch

Sensing a recession isn't exactly an enabler for Jimmy Choos and Prada handbags, Saks Fifth Avenue takes on the marketing style of Communism ... and Stolichnaya.

The high-end department store tapped Shepard Fairey, architect of the familiar Obama Hope poster, to infuse worker's morale into its Spring 2009 "Want It!" campaign.

The results -- bold and ironic -- wed one of the most visual and charged marketing styles ever to its spiritual soulmate: bourgie (but patriotic!) capitalist spirit.

"Some people might think it could be making fun of what's going on right now," Fairey told the NYT. "But I think most people are sophisticated enough to realize it's a way of grabbing attention. It's commerce. I don't think there is really any political statement embedded in this."

But Saks itself is sounding pretty indoctrinated. "What we do every day, really, is propaganda," preached eager-beaver SVP-marketing Terron E. Schaefer.