LONDON–Have you ever heard someone describe something as good enough to eat? Well, these limited edition edible Adidas sneakers, created as a nod to the Everything Is Cake meme, are just that. The brand has created a limited set of hyper-realistic chocolate cakes that look exactly like pairs of Adidas Originals ZX 2K Boost sneakers…
Working with toddlers in commercials can be tough. Sometimes, the wee thespians just can’t take direction. In these cases, alas, the kid most definitely does not stay in the picture. David Bernstein, chief creative officer at The Gate Worldwide, and his team faced just such a challenge as they shot new spots for iconic children’s clothing brand Garanimals.
The apparel has been sold exclusively by Walmart since 2008, and the new ads introduce the line “Big on cute. Small on price,” because Garanimals items start at less than $4.
“Everybody remembers Garanimals” from the brand’s 1970/’80s heyday, Bernstein says. In that era, the colorful tops and bottoms could be easily mixed and matched by youngsters based on which critters appeared on the items’ hangtags. (Those tags were discontinued when the label began specializing in clothes for newborns and the 5T set.)
“Even first-time moms have probably been exposed and maybe even have worn the brand as a child,” says Bernstein. “Part of our target audience live in multi-generational homes. The media strategy and selected programming allows one generation to remind the other about the brand and to speak of its virtues.”
To facilitate production when working with kids, “You always cast several actors for the day of the shoot,” he adds, “because they don’t always want to act on the day of the shoot.”
Working with toddlers in commercials can be tough. Sometimes, the wee thespians just can’t take direction. In these cases, alas, the kid most definitely does not stay in the picture. David Bernstein, chief creative officer at The Gate Worldwide, and his team faced just such a challenge as they shot new spots for iconic children’s clothing brand Garanimals.
The apparel has been sold exclusively by Walmart since 2008, and the new ads introduce the line “Big on cute. Small on price,” because Garanimals items start at less than $4.
“Everybody remembers Garanimals” from the brand’s 1970/’80s heyday, Bernstein says. In that era, the colorful tops and bottoms could be easily mixed and matched by youngsters based on which critters appeared on the items’ hangtags. (Those tags were discontinued when the label began specializing in clothes for newborns and the 5T set.)
“Even first-time moms have probably been exposed and maybe even have worn the brand as a child,” says Bernstein. “Part of our target audience live in multi-generational homes. The media strategy and selected programming allows one generation to remind the other about the brand and to speak of its virtues.”
To facilitate production when working with kids, “You always cast several actors for the day of the shoot,” he adds, “because they don’t always want to act on the day of the shoot.”
Lee Jeans are back, and they’re full of action.
After fading from pop consciousness in recent years, the denim label has launched a major rebranding campaign from GSD&M, themed “Move Your Lee,” featuring a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the archetypical “Lee Man” and “Lee Woman” getting into all kinds of hijinks, thanks to their pants.
Johannes Leonardo’s new “Superstar” campaign for Adidas, which features Pharrell and is centered around the Supershell collection he designed, claims to both democratize the idea of superstardom and make it less ambiguous.
Well, you can’t accuse them of aiming their sights too low, that’s for sure.
The first video in the campaign questioned the idea that fame is necessary for superstardom, and the more recent video, “Audience of One,” makes good on that premise by introducing a bunch of people no one has ever heard of as Pharrell-approved superstars.
They include American musician Pusha T, actor/director Grigoriy Dobrygin, Japanese designer Yoon, Chinese designers VJ Mian, and Mexican illustrator Smithe, all of whom state that they create purely for self-expression, with no desire for fame or glory. (Given that they’re all appearing in an ad for a global shoe brand featuring a major celebrity, they don’t seem too allergic to the idea of fame, though.)
One neat aspect of this campaign is the “pay it forward” component, wherein the five people I just named will shine a light on other creative people, forever marking them as cool via the hashtag #OriginalSuperstar. Who knows, perhaps future elements of this campaign might even focus on shoes in any significant way.
Bringing in artists to design limited-edition shoes is a no-brainer. But an architect and a photographer? That makes things a bit more interesting.
Pharrell Williams, who was named to Adweek’s Creative 100 this week in part because of his fashion design savvy, just announced a new extension of his Superstar line of Adidas shoes. It’s called Supershell, and features designs from four disparate creators:
The shoes aren’t available for sale yet, but there’s a placeholder page on Adidas’ site, and you can get a sneak peek in the photos and videos below.
The label on a piece of clothing might reveal something about its provenance, but it hardly tells the whole story. The Canadian Fair Trade Network wanted to change that. To draw attention to people around the world who are working in unsafe conditions, these remarkable ads tell their stories on the labels of clothes they make. Powerful work by from agency Rethink.
The label above reads:
100% cotton. Made in Sierra Leone by Tejan. The first few times he coughed up blood he hid it from his family. They couldn’t afford medical treatment and he couldn’t risk losing his long-time job at the cotton plantation. When he fell into a seizure one day it could no longer be ignored. The diagnosis was pesticide poisoning. The lack of proper protective clothing has left him with leukemia at the age of 34. He has two daughters. One of them starts work at the factory next year. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.
See two more ads below.
100% cotton. Made in Bangladesh by Joya who left school at the age of twelve to help support her two brothers and newly widowed mother. Her father was killed when a fire ripped through the cotton factory where he works. She now works in the building across the street from the burned down factory. A constant reminder of the risk she takes everyday. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.
100% cotton. Made in Cambodia by Behnly, nine years old. He gets up at 5:00 am every morning to make his way to the garment factory where he works. It will be dark when he arrives and dark when he leaves. He dresses lightly because the temperature in the room he works reaches 30 degrees. The dust in the room fills his nose and mouth. He will make less than a dollar, for a day spent slowly suffocating. A mask would cost the company ten cents. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.
CREDITS
Client: Canadian Fair Trade Network
Agency: Rethink, Toronto/Vancouver/Montréal
Creative Directors: Ian Grais, Chris Staples
Art Director: Leia Rogers
Writer: Arrabelle Stravoff, Danielle Haythorne
Print Producers: Cary Emley, Sue Wilkinson
Photographer: Clinton Hussey
Studio Artist/Typographer: Jonathon Cesar
Account Manager Albane Rousellot
This is truly a golden age for the poo emoji, that fecund swirl who’s become the messaging embodiment of all things odious.
For proof, look no further than Betabrand’s popular “Poo Emoji Button-Up Shirt,” which just completed its crowdfunding phase and received nearly 500 percent of the preorders needed to green-light production. The goal was to sell 50 shirts to early backers, but more than 230 had committed by the time crowdfunding closed Wednesday night.
“Our initial production run will be about 800 units.,” Betabrand founder Chris Lindland tells AdFreak.
And there’s more crap to come. In addition to its existing poo emoji shoes, Betabrand is “currently seeking feedback on a poo dress for women,” Lindland says.
Now, you might be on board with poo emojis. But why is the men’s shirt short-sleeve? “The shirts are part of a creative Hawaiian shirt collection we’re developing,” Lindland said. “Our photographers thought it would be funny to shoot like a serious Banana Republic shoot.”
You can check out the results of the e-retailer’s ironic photo collection below and decide if this would be $80 well spent.
Never underestimate the power of nostalgia, even in the form of quasi-ironic undergarments.
Internet users of a certain age have been abuzz over the past 24 hours about a new line of superhero-themed Underoos sized for adults and available at Hot Topic.
In fact, of the eight sets announced yesterday—Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Captain America, He-Man and Skeletor—the only two left in stock as I write this are Harley Quinn and Batgirl, both available only in large. (The Batman underwear literally went out of stock and then vanished while I was typing this.)
It’s doubtful we’ll need to wait too long to see these return. With such an immediate and voracious response from wistful children of the ’80s (and probably a fair share from the ’90s or beyond), the resurgent Underoos will likely be back in stock before you know it.
Surely the next batch will have Green Lantern and Aquaman, catering to a more discerning man-child. And maybe, for the honor of love, She-Ra will even get the respect she deserves. Until then I guess we’ll just have to settle for Amelia Earhart and Marie Curie.
Here’s an image via i09 that includes the Captain America and He-Man Underoos no longer in stock:
Despite the league’s high-profile problems with domestic violence, millions of women nonetheless love the NFL. They make up some 46 percent of NFL fans, and they’re a major target for apparel makers—both the NFL itself and sporting goods chains.
Now, Dick’s Sporting Goods, which keeps a running tally on its website of the top NFL jerseys (based on store and online sales), turns its attention to women—with a map of the U.S. showing the best-selling jerseys among female buyers in each state.
Here is the map. Click to enlarge.
It would be a nice to have a men’s map to compare, but there isn’t one (yet). However, Dick’s does have a few interesting data points to add:
• Three quarterbacks each claimed the top spot in four states—Russell Wilson of the Seahawks (Washington, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho), Tom Brady of the Patriots (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wyoming) and Drew Brees of the Saints (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Vermont).
• The top-selling female jersey overall is Colts QB Andrew Luck.
• Women aren’t as hot on Johnny Manziel as guys are. The Cleveland Browns QB ranks No. 1 in Ohio, but he’s only No. 13 among women nationwide (with around 2 percent of jersey sales) compared to No. 2 among men (with nearly 6 percent of sales).
• Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is No. 1 in Alaska but not in Texas.
• Cam Newton of the Carolina Pathers isn’t on the map, but was the runner-up in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Washington, D.C.
• Three rookies lead their respective states: Blake Bortles of the Jaguars in Florida, Sammy Watkins of the Bills in New York, and Manziel in Ohio.
• More women’s jerseys were sold in Washington than any other state.
With a tagline like “Change clothes in public without ever getting naked,” The Undress has a pretty clear sales proposition, and people are lining up in droves to hand the apparel startup their money.
The “mobile changing room” had a Kickstarter goal of $22,000, but when the campaign ends tomorrow, the final tally will be closer to half a million dollars.
The problem The Undress is designed to solve—working out and attempting to change into normal clothes without treating your car or gas station restroom as a fitting room. The solution—a dress that you wear that allows you to change without having to do that weird “how many seconds do I have to put my underwear on before someone walks in on me” dance. You’ll have to watch the video for the demonstration, but it’s an ingenious idea.
At first glance, I wonder how big the market is for people who want to change into clothes without showering after a workout, but $468,000 raised probably answers that question for me.
You’ll never think about down jackets or Blue Oyster Cult the same way again after watching Patagonia’s darkly informative new video set to the tune of “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
In the rather Chipotle-esque clip, we follow the journey of a naive young goose who’s trying to enjoy some time on the ski slopes when a brush with the Grim Reaper turns his whole day upside down. The jacket-clad goose (don’t overthink it) sees each step of how down feathers are harvested. As you can guess, it’s not super fun for the geese involved.
Patagonia is using the video to announce its new commitment to only using “100% traceable down.” That means the brand tracks its suppliers from hatch to harvest, ensuring that feathers are never plucked from live birds.
Much like Chipotle, the Omnivore’s Dilemma morality here stops quite a bit short of PETA standards. The geese plucked by Patagonia are, of course, killed in the process, with most of their bodies being used for food:
“Only birds raised for their meat under strict non force-fed, non live-plucked requirements are slaughtered here. Following the Traceable Down Standard, slaughterhouses observe best practices for animal welfare including the transportation, holding and slaughtering of birds.”
In usual Patagonia style, the transparency-obsessed company has an exhaustive timeline showing how it reached the 100% traceable down milestone.
So now you can at least rest assured that your Patagonia jacket was made from humanely butchered animals who weren’t flayed alive or force-fed. But that cartoon goose wearing the byproduct of his dead brethren is still a bit of monster.
The underwear brand Dear Kate, a big proponent of using real people instead of models, has a new plan to empower women: It’s putting inspiring female faces right on its panties.
Its League of Ladies Collection features illustrations of four historical women—Marie Curie, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart and Frida Kahlo—reimagined as superheroes.
Additionally, Dear Kate has called on real-life influencers to model the collection, including science communicator Kelly Carnes, actor and playwright Zoe Travis, Golly Magazine editor Roxanne Fequiere, and comedian Jackie Zebrowski.
With names like “Supermarie” and “Superfrida,” the panties feature a cartoon depiction of each woman’s face on the front and a design on the back. Which begs the question, are women even wearing panties with cartoons on them? I asked Twitter, where reactions varied from a resounding no to an open-minded maybe:
Women of Twitter over 25, do you regularly wear underwear with cartoons on them? (This is a work question, I promise.)
— Roo Ciambriello (@roociambriello) October 23, 2014
@roociambriello I’m going to go with no. I didn’t even know they made adult underwear with cartoons. I’m so boring 🙂
— Elissa Plastino (@eplastino) October 23, 2014
@roociambriello I’ve apparently been out of the loop that there was even a cartoon option that wasn’t er… uh… weird… so. No. I don’t.
— Alayna Wetherhead (@awetherhead) October 23, 2014
@roociambriello I haven’t worn cartoon underwear since Underoos (so about age 3). And even my 3-year-old wears mostly cartoon-free panties.
— Nicole (@nmb74) October 23, 2014
That’d be a negatory, ghost rider. “@roociambriello: Women of Twitter over 25, do you regularly wear underwear with cartoons on them?”
— Ambra. (@ambranykol) October 23, 2014
@roociambriello If I could find adult Wonder Woman undies I would definitely wear them.
— Maureen Keefer (@mimifelineb) October 23, 2014
@roociambriello I don’t, but I totally would. I do have a pair that spells out “Tease” in rhinestones, so …I’m into fun underwear?
— Heather Laura Clarke (@HFXHeather) October 23, 2014
I love the idea of celebrating extraordinary women, but I wonder if this is an idea best suited for a (much) younger crowd.
I highly respect and admire Amelia Earhart, but I don’t know if I want to see her face every time I pull off a pair of jeans. I would, however, absolutely buy an 8-year-old girl a cute camisole and panties set featuring Marie Curie with a little hang tag that gives her a short lesson on Curie’s scientific accomplishments. (Business idea, Dear Kate, if you want to come out with a Dear McKenna line.)
We’ve seen how people react to brands that empower women, and I’m reulctant to criticize any effort to promote strong women. So allow me to soften the blow by saying that while I wouldn’t buy superhero panties for myself (and I am the target market), Dear Kate’s Sporty Bralets are off the chain.
Blogger Kat Bouska usually loves being surprised by what’s inside her monthly Stitch Fix fashion box deliveries, but the most recent one included something she truly didn’t expect: an original price tag that showed just how much she was being overcharged.
The popular subscription company charges Kat (and many others) $20 for its personal shopping service, then sends her a box with five pieces of clothing and accessories. The charm is that she can try it all on in the comfort of her own home, and send back what she doesn’t like. She can buy what she does like, and the $20 styling fee will go towards that purchase (items are $55 each, on average, per the site). If she doesn’t like any of the pieces, she can send it all back (within three days), but lose out on the $20 styling fee.
Except this time around, her $68 shorts came with another tag on it—a Nordstrom Rack tag with a discounted price of $24.95. That’s a rather shocking markup of 173%.
She’s not the only Stitch Fix fan who has noticed she might be paying too much for discount apparel. In a comment to Bouska’s Facebook post about her recent delivery, another subscriber named Kathleen Enge remarked: “My Stitch Fix pieces arrived. I loved them. Two days later one of the dresses was featured on Nordstrom Rack Haute App for 50% less.”
So are these experiences indicative of Stitch Fix customers being misled about the price and source of their purchases? In other words, is Stitch Fix routinely buying discounted clothes at retail and then selling them at a markup?
Absolutely not, says a Stitch Fix spokeswoman, who declined to be named.
“We’re a retailer just like any other store. We purchase clothing at wholesale and sell them at retail.”
I asked why some of the service’s subscribers are finding their items at a 50% or greater discount elsewhere, and she said competing retailers often buy from the same suppliers and then set their own prices. Stitch Fix consistently prices its items at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP).
She went on to clarify that Stitch Fix does not buy its clothing from discount retailers such as Nordstrom Rack and then resell them.
If that’s the case, why did Kat Bouska have an item that clearly came from Nordstrom Rack with a Nordstrom Rack price tag in her Stitch Fix box?
It was a simple mixup, Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake told AdFreak in an email this afternoon. The shorts, she says, were sent to the wrong retailer (Stitch Fix rather than the intended Nordstrom Rack) and accidentally sent out to subscribers with the wrong tag.
“Many of our vendors work with other retail partners such as Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack. Our vendor mistakenly shipped us product that was meant for another retailer. We have quality control processes in our warehouse to catch such errors but in this instance the tag was missed. We sincerely apologize for the mistake and we want to make sure this never happens again.
“The prices we assign to our merchandise are MSRP 100 percent of the time. Many retailers choose to discount different merchandise for promotions or anniversary sales. If a client sees an item that they purchased from Stitch Fix at a discounted price at another retailer, we will always investigate, adjust our prices internally, and credit the client for the price difference.
“We are proactively reaching out to anyone who paid $68 for the shorts and giving them credit for the difference. We are also reviewing our quality control processes to make sure that this never happens again. We are committed to an amazing client experience and should be able to provide prices that are competitive to any other retailers out there. We will work with our vendors and on our internal processes to make sure this happens moving forward.”
Stitch Fix’s website will be updated with the price adjustment policy shortly.
The clarification came a bit too late for Bouska. She says she has canceled her Stitch Fix subscription.
Amy Poehler goes to the top of the class in her latest Old Navy commercial, in which the Parks and Recreation actress moderates a spelling bee.
Of course, we’ve seen her schtick for the retailer before, in ads where she’s played, among others, a lawyer, politician, soccer coach and burrito server, all obsessed with the retailer’s prices and fashions.
Still, Poehler’s sarcastic delivery never fails to please. Her snark is perfectly balanced by the fact that her characters aren’t always thinking straight, their heads clouded by unnatural preoccupations with checked shorts, sleeveless jackets and such. We don’t mind letting her have the last word, because we get the last laugh.
At one point in this new spot from Chandelier Creative, Poehler misspells “four”—Old Navy’s back-to-school sale prices start at $4—as “f-o-r-e.” But that’s OK. As she wryly notes in the amusing outtakes reel, “We have computers, who cares about spelling?”
Fashion designers can be temperamental beasts, but this is ridiculous.
Supporters seeking to raise funds to renovate the Kamine Zoo in Hitachi, Japan, have launched a brand billed as “the only jeans on earth designed by dangerous animals.” Sheets of material are attached to tires and big rubber balls that are tossed into enclosures with lions, tigers and bears, which use their teeth and claws to give a whole new meaning to the phrase “distressed denim.” That torn, chewed-up fabric is then used to create fashionably tattered Zoo Jeans.
Mithun Romandani, a men’s buyer at swanky London department store Selfridges, told the Guardian that he was unimpressed with the results because “the rips are too sporadic” and they “don’t look natural.” Hey dude, tell that to the lions. (I wouldn’t be so quick to give a bad review to an artiste that can sever your spine with a single chomp.)
Check out the video below, with the gnawing and the clawing and such. It’s got more bite than Levi’s new campaign, that’s for sure.
Via (appropriately enough) Devour.
Levi’s is trying on a simple, straightforward message in its first big push since reuniting with longtime agency FCB (and also hiring The House Worldwide) in February.
Unveiling a global campaign tagged “Live in Levi’s,” the iconic brand is using print ads and posters to show twentysomethings strolling around, cavorting and generally enjoying life while clad in Levi’s denim. Copy lines include “A classic since right now,” “Fall head over heels” and “Look good on your way to what’s next.”
“It’s intended to be both inclusive and inspiring,” CMO Jennifer Sey explains on Levi’s Unzippe” blog. “It’s a celebration. It’s not cynical. Or dour. Or overly serious—as many fashion and style-oriented brands can be. It’s fun. People have fun in jeans. It should be fun.”
Digital and social elements are also in the mix, along with TV and cinema ads launching next month from director Fredrik Bond, who lensed the memorable Cannes Lion-winning “Simon the Ogre” mini-epic for Thomson Holidays.
Recent efforts from previous agency Wieden + Kennedy, themed “Go Forth,” weren’t cynical, exactly, nor dour nor overly serious, though some observers believe they worked too hard too be cool, plugging into the zeitgeist while sacrificing Levi’s unique heritage. I kind of agree. There were some memorable moments, but, overall, “Go Forth” seemed to be flying by the seat of its pants, chasing random hipness.
The back-to-basics approach of “Live in Levi’s” strives for a more comfortable brand fit. It’s well-shot by photographer Jason Nocito and nicely understated, though it risks blending in with all the other fashion ads that show happy/moody young people who like wearing clothes.
To be fair, that’s a very preliminary impression. Print is, after all, just the first leg of a multifaceted campaign.
Surfers! Dude-bros! Rejoice! Swim shorts maker Turq Sport is here to save you from the beach’s most evil of villains. Yes, that’s right—chafing.
In this delightfully campy spot, we see how Turq Sport could have protected our hero from several uncomfortable situations. While the innuendoes might be a bit much, it’s fun to see a little girl give a grown man the side eye. Check it out below.
Dockers prepares men for fatherhood, among other things, in these two videos from Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners, timed to Father’s Day. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden gives a speech that is loaded to the gunwales with quotables (“You’re just hired help paid in groin kicks!”) to a room full of soon-to-be dads, while Sarah Harbaugh—wife of San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh—tearfully warns men about the dangers of “dad pants.”
Didn’t Dockers make those popular in the first place? Just asking questions. It’s nice to see gendered advertising that doesn’t go out of its way to insult anyone for a change, but did I hear Gruden take a swipe at dad jokes? Like hell those are going away.
Advertising lore would have us believe that attractive women are the key to getting either gender to linger longer on your ad. But in digital, could it be that the male crotch is actually the key to click-through gold?
"Time and again, close-up shots of male crotches came up victorious, by a sizable margin," online retailer Betabrand says of the recent ad test for its Dress Pant Sweatpants.
Betabrand tested 30 images of the pants on Facebook and Twitter, and each time, the crotch shown above rose to the occasion. (You can see some of the alternative shots of the pants on their site.)
In the Facebook promotion/ad test, the retailer says its photo of an iPad near a man's crotch yielded:
• 28,000 free site visits as a result of shares
• 64 percent more engagement (shares, likes, follows)
• 60 percent more on-site email signups
• 30 percent more clicks for the dollar
• 20 percent more purchases
Continuing the test with photo posts on Twitter, the brand says that yet again "King Crotch delivered."
• 4 times the purchases
• 1.5 times the number of Retweets
• 78 percent more followers as a result of tweets
• 67 percent more Favorites
"For better or worse, it's a brave new world of advertising, where clicks guide a brand's identity," says Betabrand founder Chris Lindland. "For now, ours appears to be squarely focused below the belt."
Will other brands catch on? If so, apologies in advance about your Facebook news feed.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.