Parfums Givenchy, which means "Givenchy Perfumes" in American, has picked Justin Timberlake as the face of its new men's cologne [Off The Rack]. The company president said the poppity pop star "is a world recognized trendsetter who redefines modern elegance." Sure he is. A better thing for Justin to put his face on:
A scary question: Is widespread product placement—a phenomenon that's already here in television and movies—going to become ubiquitous in our beloved magazines, as well? The question was debated at the FOLIO Publishing Summit, currently underway at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami. In one of Doral's more than 40 meeting rooms, several panelists said that it's only a matter of time before product placement spreads. One suggested that the issue may not be sacred to most average readers, like those leafing through their favorite magazines as they relaxed in the Doral's European inspired spa. The debate will likely continue over dinner at Doral's Champions Bar and Grill, and may even spill over into a nightcap at the poolside Cascades Bar. But contentious as the product placement issue is, it's nothing that can't be discussed politely over 18 holes on one of Doral's five championship golf courses. Regardless, it is a question of policy that not just magazines, but all forms of media need to "work out"—perhaps they should try one of Doral's personalized fitness consultations, only $100 for an hour-long Specialty Session.
Just when you thought you'd have to settle for one of those other 23837766992753 energy drink products that don't quite reflect your lifestyle, comes the news that Playboy is finally launching its own energy drink. It has that bunny on the can, and it has energetic ingredients, and it is called "Playboy Energy Drink." The company says it gives "customers a taste of the lifestyle that has always been associated with the Playboy brand." Mmm. So what does it taste like?
We must hand it to Will Ferrell. Having just delivered another homerun performance as Chaz Bobby Burgundy the Tank in Semi-Pro, the actor is already thinking ahead to his next project, promoting the just -started -filming Land of the Lost adaptation by wearing this Enik- the- Sleestak- inspired smocksuit to last night's premiere. For purists worried that their beloved, Saturday morning memories of the Marshalls, Cha-Ka, and the rest of the Lost gang might be tainted by crass Hollywood cynicism, fear not: The delightful premise, in which Ferrell stars as an arrogant, womanizing movie star cast in a remake of the Sid and Marty Krofft series, only to discover that real Sleestaks (Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller) exist among us, is post-modern self-referential hilarity at its finest!
Advertisers are figuring out that traditional TV ads are getting less and less effective as a way to reach all you hungry consumers. So many people have DVRs these days that ads are getting skipped more than ever before, and the Internet is cutting into TV as a medium (fa sho!). In a new study, 62% of advertisers said that TV continues to suck. But have no fear, because they are finding new and more devious ways to get their marketing messages into our brains. Online TV shows, video on demand, and even " set-top-box menus" are all in line to get more ads. Great! You cannot escape. SonyCokePepsiMcdonalds. [Broadcasting & Cable]
For those of you who invested a lot of effort into preparing for a glamorous career in the media: Why not try marketing instead? Seriously. Because all the media jobs are pretty much disappearing. Ad Age finds in a new survey that a quarter of media jobs have evaporated since 2000. Where did they go? To marketing services, of course, which is actually expanding because of the Internet, whereas traditional media outlets (hello, newspapers) are being pummeled with layoffs because of the Internet. Fortunately, all those laid off reporters can get jobs pitching stories to their old colleagues; "Marketing consultancies over the past year added 14,500 jobs (up 10.8%), nearly matching staff cuts at newspapers (down 16,900 or 4.7%)." More depressing graphs of doom [via Ad Age] after the jump.
Yankees shortstop and and King of New York Derek Jeter is lending his image to 24 Hour Fitness, which plans to open three Jeter-themed gyms in the city. He'll be helping to design everything down to the tile! The timing of the announcement is impeccable, since just yesterday Jeter was revealed to be the worst fielding shortstop in baseball by a scientific study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. Learn to boot ground balls and miss line drives because of your poor range, only at 24 Hour Fitness! The Post, however, found a clever rebuke for those pointy-headed scientists: "'I don't know what they're smoking down at Penn,' said Yankees fan Mike." Check and mate! [NYP]
Washed-up socialite Fabian Basabe is not just sitting around reflecting on his days of being a chandelier-swinging it-boy; He is "forging relationships that will forever change the face of humanity— literally and figuratively." By slapping his face on promos for Alessi Skin Care products! One of which is aptly called "Starblaster." The wildly exaggerated and hilarious press release explains the connection between Basabe and victims of gang violence—It's not what you might hope.
"Funny" network TBS is planning to promote its "Sex and the City" reruns with a new sex-themed blog called "The Frisky." Which, judging by some screengrabs of the (unlaunched) site a tipster sent to us, promises to be excruciatingly folksy. The plan, according to the tipster, is for the network to let the site run on its own for a while before really integrating it into the TBS marketing machine. Maybe that will give them time to get the dog sex headlines out of their system. After the jump, screengrabs of the yet-to-be-unveiled site, including their political mission statement: "I so want to bone Barack Obama."
Finally, some shoes that Natalie Portman can eat. The actress (and ScarJo doppelganger) launched her own line of vegan shoes yesterday at a New York boutique, the natural environment of fervent vegans. These things would be made out of what, plastic? Yarn? It's hard to tell in this scientific era we live in. Take a guess for yourself— sample pictures of the shoes, which save animals $275 at a time, after the jump.
Oscar Batori is the 21 year-old "image director" (*snort*) on the Meatpacking district club circuit profiled by the Times yesterday. His job, apparently, is to go to clubs, convince other rich, good looking people to go to clubs, and wear extremely expensive clothing. A $1,500 Gucci overcoat! A $1,000 Prada coat! He does this while simultaneously talking lots of shit about those around him: a guy in a diner is the biggest loser in the world, a fellow model wrangler is "small time," he can't stand bookworms. The mystifying part is that Oscar Batori continues to engage in his reckless coat-wearing, mouth-running, and media-whoring without comeuppance, despite being, quite simply, a skinny ass punk. As these modeling shots of him will attest:
Gucci's new flagship store on 5th Avenue [Photo via Racked] opened today&mdash the one that was in no way related to the blockbuster luxury bash at the UN Wednesday night, which was done only with the children of Malawi in mind. And coverage of that fabulous night keeps on coming, today in the form of an ET video (after the jump) that features shots of actual African children amongst the celebrity throngs, and this quote from Drew Barrymore: "I think that it's great to have fashion and philanthropy sort of intertwined, because people care about fashion. So when you combine the two, it makes it fun."
Well, you'll be happy to hear that the purely altruistic GUCCI/ Unicef fundraiser for Malawi went off smashingly last night at the UN; no thanks to you, cheapskate, who didn't even buy a single $2000 ticket. Luckily for Africa, people like Madonna, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Cruise, and J-Lo are willing to put the welfare of refugees before their own needs. Some of them even showed up in new Gucci outfits, in order to help the company, which is a force for good in this world. Madonna took on the accusations "made mainly by bloggers" that the event is a sickening, decadent fashion orgy, a sham passed off as a benefit for a charity that is run by the co-director of the Kabbalah Center . The Material Girl doesn't pay attention to that talk, because it's that same old "controversy surrounding anything that involves change." You go! And Gucci CEO Mark Lee clarified that it is just "a coincidence" that Gucci is opening a new flagship store in NYC this Friday. To emphasize the point, they even scrubbed the original press release!
HOW did an ad from the Association de Producteurs des Fruits—some European fruit concern Americans don't even care about—get to be the second-most viewed spot on ad rating site Firebrand.com, over tons of way more recognizable American brands? By being the single most sexual ad in the universe. It certainly does make you want strawberries. Full ad after the jump; NSFW within the continental US.
It's great that Tea Leoni, Madonna, Timbaland, and Alicia Keys can take time out of their shiny lives tonight to attend a fundraiser for UNICEF. Because they all support UNICEF, and are each determined to raise money for the suffering people of Malawi, you see. Purely coincidental is Gucci's co-sponsorship of the event. The high fashion brand is also extremely concerned with Malawi, and whatnot. And did they mention that this event will celebrate the opening of their NEW 5th Avenue flagship store? That is only a secondary concern, of course. Gucci is actually very popular in Malawi. And why wouldn't they be, with products like these:
You didn't think that two-second mention of Diet Snapple in Sarah Silverman's "I'm F*cking Matt Damon" video would get away without being turned into a crass PR ploy, did you? Today Snapple's PR firm finally got around to watching the the thing, and put together a faux-apologetic letter to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Silverman's boyfriend. Given that the video came out five days ago (which is ten YouTube Years), they should have moved quicker. Or had a better idea. The beverage corporation's full note to Jimmy— and the world—after the jump.
Many, including us, have been wondering out loud how Warner Bros. plans on addressing the unique (and thankfully so) marketing problem currently facing The Dark Knight: Namely, what to do about a campaign that took fiendish pleasure in showcasing Heath Ledger's singularly bleak and twisted take on iconic Batman villain the Joker. Slate now reports that the studio's plan, in place since the beginning but perhaps being ushered in more hastily since the actor's death, is to shift the focus over to the film's other featured villain:
Gap, a clothing company that seems cheaper than it actually is, just announced the winners of its Gap kids model contest. The winners were announced on the Rachel Ray Show, a show that has come to represent blind consumerism, brash and abrasive cheer and the privileging of ease over quality in matters both culinary and philosophical. Anyway, on to the kids! There are four of them. Only one has a name that is rather common (Samantha). Of the other three, Parker is the cutest, Jaron sounds the most annoying and Kenadi is only 3 but also fucking cute. Samantha, and this is just a gloss, but she's also annoying. She's seven and of the sixteen words used to express her, nine are used to say, "She wants to be famous when she grows up."
