Hasta La Creative!

It’s times like these I wish more than ever I was a New Yorker.

On Thursday and Friday, Thomas Pink gave away over 1,000 individually customized shirts at a pop-up shop erected near Rockefeller Center. The stint, entitled the White Collar Shirt Bar, promoted “White Collar,” a new USA Network show that premiered Friday. Stars of the show Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, and Tiffani Thiessen (Sadly, Mark-Paul Gosselaar was not in attendance) were on hand Friday to celebrate the launch of the show and probably to get a free shirt.

Keep in mind a basic Thomas Pink button-down shirt starts at around a whopping $150, let alone all the extra charges that must come with custom tailoring by expert seamstresses. Therefore, this might be the best promotion ever, complete with complimentary shoe shines and gourmet coffee for those waiting in the trenches. Although the lines started early and people were waiting for up to six hours (maybe more), everyone in line was guaranteed a shirt.

According to the promoters, the USA network and Thomas Pink joined forces to create a unique opportunity to share a piece of the show’s main character. According to whomyouknow.com, the white-collar shirts provided are “inspired by the effortless style of “White Collar”’s lead character Neal Caffrey, the world’s most fashionable ex-con.” Everyone who received a shirt also got a DVD of the premiere episode among other goodies.

Although not all can appreciate a plain dress shirt costing upwards of $200, Thomas Pink is truly the best of the best. Each seam and button is strategically placed, and the high quality two-fold cotton used lasts a lifetime. The USA Network hit a home run in pairing up with Thomas Pink to portray the luxurious lifestyle that the show is all about. It is one thing to give away promo T-shirts, but a giveaway of this caliber would have been truly worth the wait.

Anna Vortman is a marketing and advertising manager specializing in branding and new media. Contact her at avortman@gmail.com