hung

HBO’s show Hung needed a little bit of attention to promote the show. The series features a forty something father, with no money and decides to turn to prostitution to get the funds to win his kids back. An Auckland based marketing company, Colenso BBDO, was sought out by HBO to promote the show and to generate publicity. BBDO is currently one of New Zealand’s highest ranked ad agencies and was ranked top ad agency of the decade by Campaign Brief What they erected, for lack of a better word, is definitely creating publicity. Located on Victoria Street in central Auckland, an enormous crotch with the show’s title plastered on it rests. Despite one’s personal opinion of the show, it is impossible to deny the eye catching success of the billboard. Sex sells, and when the series’ title is ‘Hung’ might as well get right to the point. Is this overtly sexual add too much to be on a billboard? Or is it no different then any beer campaign with scandalous women in revealing clothes, or perfume advertisements alluding to sex and rape. Sex selling advertisements however are usually due to a an attractive person having little or nothing to do with the product being advertised. However, in this case, the subject matter is exactly what is being displayed, clear and concise. So is it fair to say that the advertising company is using sex to sell, because it really is just selling the product it self.Image: coolhunter.com

mobile uploads.

There has been a recent surge in social photography in the amount of ‘Mobile Uploads’ on social networking sites. Individuals use their personal mobile handhelds to capture ‘of the moment snapshots’ to immediately upload to their social network of choice. This instantaneous documentation leaves fantastic, raw, unedited footage for your network to view and comment. No touch ups, no glamorized vignette embosses, just the facts. This makes companies skeptical because of how instantaneous (bad) news can travel. I personally especially like this on Facebook, the real deal, no photo shopped images. Individuals tend to take this personal documentation and live through as a sort of “day in the life”, adding pictures of everything from the weather to what they ate to who they saw that day. All captioned with a personalized comment.
The recent popularity has been linked to the technological developments in handheld mobile devices such as the iPhone 3G. News stations encourage viewers to submit their own 'newsworthy' uploads. In Toronto all the latest buzz has been about a mobile upload of a TTC driver asleep on the job. There is constantly battling between Toronto Transit employees regarding fare and wages, and this mobile upload fueled the debate.

right here. right now.

This video is the most powerful combination of facts and delivery I have seen to date. The author of Socialnomics, Erik Qualman produces the video about the growing use of social networking. The video is mostly shared on social networking sites such as YouTube, which makes it very ironic. My favorite part of information is that we live in a generation of consumers that do not tend to listen to advertisements. Trust is within the testimonials of real people who have experienced the advertised services and products. It makes complete sense; consumers in this social media savvy world are very smart. We watch commercials and then ask “Yah, but does that really work?”… followed by a bit of online research before we make a purchase.

photo credit: galessa's plastics, flickr.

my marxist feminist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.

finals. crunch time. copious amounts of double doubles, full throttles and adderal. nothing gets me off more than how brilliantly smart I am (and modest!) and how I do not regret my education path for a second. women's studies. film. marketing. all the makings for a samantha jones meets coco chanel. enjoy your education ducklings, because no one can ever take it away.

image credit:mbanas7, flickr

why blog?

Why blog, and what does it have to do with pop culture besides being trendy? On the surface, blog sites and twittering may seem very self absorbed and arrogant. There is a soapbox for every Geek, goth, frat boy and drama queen. Everyone has his or her chance to be heard. It appears to be quite egotistical to participate in any of these blogging forums, so why encourage it?
‘Blogs’ and ‘Blogging’ IS popular culture. The popularity of blogging is a result of it being so tangible. Anyone can be a participant and anyone can be a critic. The experts are no longer white collars behind desks, printing articles to make a buck. People blog about things they feel strongly about, for the simple reason of sharing their point. Things that are mentioned in more popular blogs therefore, become popular. If Perez Hilton deems something ‘hot’ it’s hot. If fashionation.com says something is trendy, designers are running to get their version of this trend on the racks. Instead of products and services telling you what is popular- you tell them.

This is an excellent article explaining the success of blogging and it’s effects on trendsetting and popular culture:

Dictionary:
(Source http://blog.urbandictionary.com/ a BLOG where everyone can be the author! Also note I had to carefully comb the definitions to find the one I found most appropriate…why? Because this is MY blog!)

Blog (blogging)- Once considered an 'online diary', has now become a new trendy word created for use on the internet to try and make something old and established look new and interesting and to make those who use the word seem relevant. What used to be called a forum where topics of the same subject or area of interest were discussed via posts are now called blogs. Those participating in these online discussions are referred to as bloggers and the act of doing so is called blogging. Check out these popular sites for examples: Twitter (twittering)- A form of chatline for social media "experts" to add thousands of random strangers and wank off to impress other social media "experts" by posting links to articles about the phenomenon of social media.
Perez Hilton & Fashionation.

Image Credit: http://www.chiangmainews.com/images/ecmn/data/050_soap_box3.jpg

simple: everything is as it should be

brilliant. brilliant. brilliant.

keffiyeh: ignorance at it's finest.

The discussion of the keffiyeh is fascinating. Having first seen the keffiyeh on celebrities such as Kanye West, it was interesting to learn that it was in fact a symbol of Palestinian resistance against Colonialism. It was also very interesting to note the toll this ‘trend’ is taking on the creators of keffiyehs in areas they are produce. They are now made forty percent cheaper in China. Palestinian producers are now worried of losing a viable symbol of their national struggle as a result of mass production. They are trying to cope by adding colors to classic weaves to enhance the product solely for tourists. My knowledge of the keffiyeh has already been shared in hopes of spreading the word. Most people have no idea the implications of this trend and with more advertised knowledge we are closer to solving the problem.

The article, Catalog-ing Ethnicity: Clothing as Cultural Citizenship discusses how catalogues are simply representations of ‘Americanization’. Catalogues are slowly becoming a thing of the past due to the Internet. It is very accurate to say that catalogues such as J. Crew and Abercrombie and Fitch paint an unreachable portrait of “Americans” (or North Americans). All the faces of the models, regardless of race fit a ‘white’ heterosexual cut out. Are catalogues projecting imagery of what American’s see as themselves, or what companies such as J. Crew want their customers to reflect? During my research I was looking at the Abercrombie and Fitch web site. There was an advertisement for “vintage scarves” that are unmistakably replicas of the kuffiyeh. After learning about the symbolism and historical importance attached to the keffiyeh, it is scary how such an established company would have this in their catalogue (of Americanization). It completely goes against the meaning of the keffiyeh and passes it off as an “all American” vintage scarf. Overall, there is a valuable lesson in understanding the significance of certain ‘trend’s before jumping right in to them."

Source: Subbaraman, Sivagami. “Catalog-ing Ethnicity: Clothing as Cultural Citizenship.” Interventions. 1.4. (1999): 72-89.

exotica: canadian film review.

I really enjoyed Atom Egoyan's Exotica (1994), I found it to be a very interesting story line that at no point spoon fed the audience. The narrative focuses on a nightclub in Toronto and it's owners, patrons and primary dancer (played by my favorite - Jennifer Connelly) and their intermingling plots. This is an excellent reflection of Canadian film in so many ways. Our ability to tackle the “exotic” if you will.

The story overlaps then breaks apart and re mingles connecting the dots. -Exotica both teases and in a sense educates- stripping away the layers. Healing and therapy are also major themes: “this place is for entertainment- healing should be sought elsewhere” Zoe. Watching the girls soothe clients soothes him too” in regards to Eric.

There is a considerable stretch of time elapses before its coolly juxtaposed scenes start to clearly connect mobilizing suspense. Egoyan uses ritual and repetition, from words spoken to actions made to images shown. Like a mirror image they repeat themselves,sometimes even doubling- like Thomas visiting the club for Francis whose fantasy investment in he club makes presence there a necessity even if it’s through a double.
The viewed object is not only taboo- a hand repeatedly blocks the camera’s view of a grainy clip finally revealed to be revealed as one of Lisa and her mother- too precious to touch. Exotica rehearses the concern with touch
“Everybody Knows- you can look but you can’t touch”

image source: http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_01_img0170.jpg

canada's selective history.

Canada: A People’s History and Canadian Heritage Minutes and are a part of Canada’s nationalism that in many ways can be compared to a textbook of Canadian History. We are given this information about Canada as fact, and therefore have no reason to doubt its validity; especially with such established corporations as the CBC and Radio Canada presenting them. However, I believe it is important to question their selection in choosing these ‘Canadian’ moments in history, and more specifically what is not being mentioned. I found it interesting in the Canada: A People’s History when they begin with the white people saving the native girl. It is also extremely odd to me that in all the history of Canada, a soldier’s bear named after his hometown, inspiring a few children’s stories made the cut of a Heritage Minute. While both of the subjects do bring light to Canadian history, it is important to realize that it is a selective history being presented.

slutty skirts.

The deliberation over women’s dress: provocative or empowering. It is a timeless debate. No matter what the case, what a woman wears is representative of her as an individual and as part her culture. In the case of `national culture’ for Tanzanians consumption of `Western’ fashion becomes part of this issue. Operation Vijana deals with just the consumption of objects signs and images originating from Western mass culture industries. The mini skirt in particular being a very controversial topic. The mini skirt raises politics of urban space and constructions of gender and the city. The mobility of the mini skirt allows for women to work easier whilst representing the city. It represented opportunity and threatened men by raising the bargaining position of women in the town

The sexualisation of the miniskirt is essential when discussing the men’s issues with the dress. Young men felt they were especially at loss in the issue of politics concerning Operation Vijana. They felt they were at a strong economic disadvantage to the `sugar’ daddies that the young women had relationships with because of the girl’s access. A woman her looking sexy will always be associated with prostitution, and will be assumed to gaining access to men and there money through sex. Is it valid to associate exposing skin with gaining power and to go as far as immediately linking it to prostitution? I am personally a believer of `returning the gaze’. I believe a woman looking sexy and gaining power and confidence as a result of this gaze is perfectly acceptable. I believe there are boundaries within each individual’s morals of what one will wear or how much to expose, as long as one is happy with what they gain through such means. Returning the gaze is a powerful tool that does nothing but help the advancement of any marginalized group.