American Apparel Gets Consumer-Created Ads

Flickr user Alane Golden has created a set of American Apparel ads he created as "a presentation for American Apparel. Call it my attempt landing a creative gig. Just something i have thrown together -to be reproduced nowhere, except perhaps as photos for my mates who posed!" No there's some serious consumer-created advertising dedication for you. The ads certainly mirror American Apparel's odd image but seem to steer clear of the already over-done kiddy-porn look which has gained the fashion brand fame and notoriety. Check out all the ads here.

Virgin Atlantic to Choose Ultimate Jetrosexual

Having fun with the whole metrosexual trendlet, Virgin Atlantic Airways announced that nominations for its ongoing Jetrosexual Awards will close this Friday, September 16. Apparently, hundreds of people have nominated their metro/jetrosexual friends since the program launched in June. The program seeks the ultimate Boston and Washington D.C. area entrepreneur and will award the Bostonian and DCist that best personifies the Jetrosexual spirit. Virgin Atlantis says the awards celebrate a "new emerging business culture lead by a growing group of Jetrosexuals, those high fliers who move business and culture forward each and every day."

The nomination site includes a list of 11 Jetrosexual Commandments including "Thou shalt be able to order a beer in at least six different languages" and "Thou shalt respect the five minute rule when using the lavatory." Local semi-finalists will be announced on September 30, 2005, be reviewed by a selection committee with final awards announced October 17, 2005. The winner will enjoy a high flying, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class experience to London.

Agency Intern Searches For Meaning of Ritual

Whether a veiled agency promotion or just two kooks on bikes, 86 the Onions design intern and UCLA student Steve Ounanian and bike messenger Chris Jahn left Los Angeles on bikes September 5 and north on a 100 mile-per-day, 14 day ride to Starbucks headquarters in Seattle. The purpose of the pair's trip, in a nod to the morning coffee quest, is to examine people's daily rituals - their's and the rituals of others - and understand why routine is so important. The two are documenting the trip with a blog and video clips.

Ounanian says, "The hypothesis is, ritual equals comfort, but it also equals, ironically, both freedom and confinement. There is something about the repetitive task of riding my bike, the machine aspect of it that is alluring. When everything is uncertain, stressful, or even wonderful—you can have control over it by just executing your daily ritual." Ounanian and Jahn are stopping in 14 cities on the way and interviewing people about their daily rituals hoping to understand it's core. Somehow, this is all related to marketing. Or research. Or agency promotion. Or weight loss. Or. Or. Or not.

JWT Takes On Mother Nature

In an effort to passify those who think men are portrayed in advertising as over sexed, neanderthal morons, JWT has announced it will cease characterizing men as boob-fixated, humping jack rabbits. The change in policy follows the release of a book by one of the agency's vice presidents, Marian Salman, who says men have been mocked in advertising for far too long. While true when it comes to illustrating men as clueless buffoons as Verizon did recently, to strip away certain innate behaviors is questionable. Perhaps it's all payback for, until recently, portraying women as clueless, man-serving kitchen maids.

Salman says, "All too often in the marketing arena, we're portraying man as the victim - of his sexual organ or his lust, his emotional neediness, his overinflated ego or his sheer ineptitude." OK, true. That could be toned down a bit but do we want to re-engineer man to appear as if he's become some sexless, robotic, new age, virtue-spewing automaton?

The Three Ages of Advertising Slavery Illustrated

Illustrating the life cycle of the average advertising professional, Hugh MacCleod of "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" fame, has created a new cartoon, called "The Three Ages of Slavery," that clearly, but perhaps depressingly, depicts what the average person working in advertising can expect as he progresses through his career. There's no 50's or 60's cause, you know, after 49, all those ad people seem to disappear into other endeavors courtesy of ageism.

Grafitti Bomber Launches Lifestyle Brand

Hipster hunter, Bucky Turco, tells us female graffiti writer CLAW, a well know and respected 'bomber,' has launched clawmoney.com with the help of web designers to promote her CLAW Money lifestyle brand.

The heavily graffiti 'done right' - inspired site showcases some of her new wares, sunglasses, and graffiti skills. Her infamous CLAW tag/logo has afforded her cult status amongst graffiti aficionados, fashionistas, editors, and has definitely caught the ire of NYPD's Vandal Squad. Although she mainly works as a consultant, designer and a fashion editor, she still finds time to 'bomb' and keep the Vandal Squad busy photographing her work from time to time. Claw has even caught the attention of designer Calvin Klein as she was chosen to launch their new artist series 'choice' line set for release this summer.

This vandal turned fashionista is all about business as well as destruction, having hired hipsterati PR firm Brand Pimps Media Whores to do all her press and ho' sale.

Turco says, "What I like about Claw is that she is one of the illest bombers and is now using that notoriety and prowess to legally 'bomb' the fashion world. She literally gets respect on the streets and on the runways. And most importantly, unlike so many other brands that try and misappropriate graffiti, she utilizes it and promotes it flawlessly."

Survival Advice Offered to Old Media

Accumulating opinion and commentary from across the media and advertising spectrum, The Wall Wall Street Journal has compiled an outlook of the media landscape from network news, advertising, newspapers, book publishing, movies and music. While there are a few insightful suggestions surrounding network news and movies, much, such as turning advertisements into programming and microtargeting has been heard before. All the same, it's nice to see it wrapped up all in one place others who don't analyze this stuff on a minute by minute basis.

HP Introduces Harajuku Style Camera

HP has capitalized on the popularity of Gwen Stefani's fixation with Japanese Harajuku culture (fad?) and the Harajuku-styled girls that follow her around everywhere she goes by offering the special edition Photosmart R607 Harajuku Lovers Digital Camera by Gwen Stefani. It's the usual Americanization of a micro-culture that some say isn't even a culture at all. Tian has more on the whole Harajuku thing here.

Media Planner Says Embrace Ad Skipping

Using far more words than necessary but still making a good point, Chicago-based media planner Cece Forrester suggest the ad industry embrace PVR ad skipping rather than fighting against it. Citing the shift towards absolute control of content from media companies to consumers and that as skipping has been around forever (i.e. trips to the fridge or bathroom), Forrester writes TiVo should enable viewers to skip, not fast forward through, to the end of any commercial and the beginning of the next.

TiVo's competitor, Replay, had a feature, that has since been disabled, which would skip thirty seconds at a time. Forrester's suggestion builds on this claiming ads, like content, should earn the attention of viewers rather than being served using the current force feed method. Attempting to prevent people from bypassing things they don't like is a losing battle. TiVo would be wise to act early and come to terms with this.

Inanimate Spokeobjects the New Ad Trend

Brenner Thomas has identified a seemingly new trend in advertising - the inanimate spokesobject. Quaker Oats has its Quaker gentleman, Travelocity has its Roaming Gnome and Burger King has its smiling, plastic King. Any more of this and we'll start hearing from the unions.