Is Ugly The New Edgy?

Posted by Shelly Kramer on July 6, 2010 · View Comments 

I came across this Marc Jacobs ad in a posh and trendy fashion mag the other day and felt compelled to comment. I mean, seriously, what’s going on here? Is ugly the new edgy? Does anyone – at Marc Jabobs, or anywhere else, think that this image of a puny, scruffy, not-at-all-attractive dude in a pair of tighty whities is going to inspire anything but a quick turn of the page?

At the risk of making a sweeping generalization, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that men in tighty whities are a turnoff. I believe I speak for all humanity on this issue. Or at least I speak for women of all ages and pretty much for the gay community at large. Fine. Wear them if you must, but don’t subject any of us to the sight of you in them. Ever.

Especially not when there are so many choices. Comfy and chic boxer briefs. The always highly recommended traditional boxer. Sleek and sexy trou like those sported by Dustin “Duke” Dlouhy for Glamour. Those make for nice, emmmm, browsing.

Surely you get my point. The Duke might not be your style when it comes to potential dating material, but there is no question he is rocking those skivvies.

Conversely, the image used by Marc Jacobs to sell what is no doubt a great leather jacket – just doesn’t work for me. Ugly is not edgy. Ugly does not capture my attention. Ugly does not make me momentarily want to run away to Fiji with one of those hot hunka lunkas – if only for a week (moment). And, most importantly, ugly does not make me want to purchase. And isn’t that the whole point?

Marketing and PR Pros- Would YOU Work for BP?

Posted by Shelly Kramer on June 4, 2010 · View Comments (Edit)

As the BP oil spill and environmental disaster continues, I find myself having almost daily conversations with friends and colleagues involved in the intertwined worlds of marketing, PR and social media about BP. Their strategy (or apparent lack thereof) in dealing with the crises (both the environmental one and the public relations one) is one hot topic. Many professionals that I’ve discussed this with wouldn’t want to touch BP or their business with a 10-foot pole. Others, always in search of a challenge, would be psyched about the opportunity to get involved and make a difference.

AdAge is conducting a poll – you can log in via this link and take it if you’re interested. The voting ends tomorrow, so go do it now, then see how the results have changed from the results you see in the image above, which were generated when I took the poll.

One person not interested in going to work for BP any time soon – wait, make that never – is Leroy Stick, the person behind the infamous @BPGlobalPR Twitter account. In an interview with AdAge, Stick says it all: ” This isn’t a PR nightmare, it’s an actual nightmare.” And, responding to the question about who BP should hire to replace their PR department with, Stick stated, “Nobody, they should halt the entire PR operation. They should hire people like Professor Rick Steiner to come up with real, responsible solutions to this real problem. Of course their publicity is going to be bad, but if they actually fix the problem the bad press could turn into good press.”

How about you, my industry friends … would you want to go to work for BP … today? Would you welcome the opportunity to help them find solutions to help turn bad press into good press or would you rather steer clear? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

And by the way, if you’ve not yet read this post, featuring SomaCow’s @orlandojamie and her amazing BP Parody Video, you are missing out. Go do it – NOW!

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Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged with @BPGlobalPR, @orlandojamie, Ad Age, AdAge, BP Oil Spill, Kansas City Marketing Agency, Kansas City Public Relations, Kansas City Social Media Marketing, Leroy Stick, Public Relations Strategy, SomaCow