...Because Was Your Belief Ever Truly Suspended in the First Place?

We give the fashion industry a lot of leeway to be pretentious: that is, to produce a false universe that's supposed to feel aspirational but is often so far out of the realm of the real that it becomes little more than snobby farce.

Part of this is our fault; we don't ask fashion a ton of deep questions. (Do we even want to?) And as long as it's teetering on this precarious ledge, the door is open for somebody to give it a little shove.

Case in point: Etam Takes on The Kooples

Fashion here is manifested by The Kooples, a beautiful high-end French-meets-hipster brand whose founders, in a recent issue of Grazia, confessed to having visualised the ad campaign before setting themselves to the actual task of designing.

The offline ads are homemade (digital's done by Digitas) and follow the same general format. They highlight a glamorous-looking couple, list their names, how long they've been together, and sometimes where they met. (The stories never go deep; couples typically only boast a track record of a couple of years, and often meet at less-than-profound places.)

If you seek relatability in a Kooples ad, you'd be hard-pressed to find it: this is drugs, sex and rock-n'-roll for the privileged set, only thinly disguised as love (if you think it is at all), or even as real people.* And while I dig the brand, every time I come across one of these ads I still have to stop and be like "Are you fucking serious?" Because matchy daft couples that somehow managed to outlast their coke-laced one-nighter aren't the people I want to dress like.

I apparently wasn't the only one who felt this way. Out of left field comes budget brand Eram, who, with help from Havas' agency H, takes the Kooples concept and exposes it for flagrant plastic shammery:

Translation: "Karl is a photographer. Bahia's a DJ. It was love at first sight at a New York rooftop soirée."

Close in for the kill: "These shoes cost €49,90 -- and that, that's actually true."

Followed by tagline: "Eram: You'd have to be crazy to spend more."

Same basic idea for this one: Barry's an architect, Keira's a performing artist, they met four years ago in a Berlin squat house, these sandals cost €39,90 and that's the truth.

This comparative work serves Eram's brand perfectly: it's a format and a message that drag you back down to earth ... where, incidentally, you'll find even the prices more terre-à-terre.

More images at Dark Planneur's blog.

Examine What You're Asking People to Believe.

(Even in fashion.)

A lot of the time your audience will cut you slack. Once in awhile, though, they'll be like, "Seriously? Are you sure you want to be saying that?"

When this happens, sometimes it's best to stick to your guns, as I'm sure The Kooples will. But other times you should ask whether they're right: did you -- and your brand -- get lost in the weeds during conception?

All that said, here's full disclosure: I'm a Kooples shopper. I have never been inside an Eram, and because I'm elitist and spendy, I'd prefer to keep it that way. Do these appropriations make me want to change my mind, considering they validate how I felt about The Kooples' ads?

Not yet. But I still like that somebody called them out. And I like that Eram had the balls and the finesse to do it well. This is the beginning of a relationship.

A big thank-you to @BranislavPeric for furnishing me with the agency information.

---

*I stand corrected. A friend messaged me today to say he knows a Kooples couple, and they're really a couple!

Accidental Hard Sells

Last night a friend introduced me to a site she uses to stream shows. She even gave a quick demo, glossing over the flaws as they appeared. Most of the videos are hosted on Megavideo, which makes you wait 50 minutes after watching 72 minutes of footage; and the quality isn't great, but this is for hardcore show-watchers that follow for plot, not pretty. Despite the misgivings, I was sold on her enthusiasm and the idea of the site's consistency. I'm down to try it.

The curious thing about being a user: When we're super into something, and we discover someone we know could use it, we become hardcore evangelists. And an evangelist powers through the pitch, however glaring the drawbacks might be.

It's a real-life sales job -- one most of us wouldn't wanna be paid to do, but one we readily slip into anyway when the conviction arises. That's a huge thing: we won't take a 40% commission to sell cars to survive, but we'll punt our favourite whatever to a friend for free, in the best contextual moment, out of the kindness of our hearts...?

Humor me ››

Sometimes Brands Do Beautiful Things.

Profit for its sake, and capitalism for its sake, will actually become unstuck, unwind and not work.

-- Global CEO David Jones of Havas Worldwide

Witness while:

Pepsi gives grants to world-changing initiatives, chosen by you.

Humor me ››

Levi's: Love, Lust and Storytelling

In April I got to see an ad:tech talk given by Senior Director Michael Perman of Levi's. It was called "The Art of Storytelling," something at which the company particularly excels.

Anyway, I was doing my usual trawl of exceptional William Shatner videos* the other day when I came across treasure: the two ads that got me stuck on advertising in the first place.

Humor me ››

Apple Isn't Perfect, But Its Fanbase Loves it Anyway.

I don't know why this is. Maybe because it's unapologetic: historically social media-shy, not into competitive price-slashing (it makes price cuts, but usually only after the launch of a new-generation item, not because of cheaper rivals), and not terribly discreet about its feelings about Microsoft.

Why is Apple able to behave this way when other brands can't afford to?

Humor me ››

@drtobiasfunke Singlehandedly Restores Love of Show, Faith in Twitter

I am a huge Arrested Development fan, going as far back as when the show was actually running (which is rare!). And my loyalty only improved with age: I turned at least five people (now enthusiasts!) onto it, and watched Seasons 1-3 at least five times straight through.

It was my religion.

But even zealots move on. The last time I touched my AD DVDs was maybe summer of last year. I've since rediscovered Buffy, Angel and Star Trek: Deep Space 9. If anybody asks me, sure, I still dig the show. Have I got high hopes for its return, or for a full-length movie? Not really. The fire's become ash; I have officially Ceased to Care.

So it was with surprise and pleasure that I returned from vacation late Sunday to find @drtobiasfunke following me on Twitter. For non-ADers out there, Dr. Tobias Fünke is a (blazing!) closet homosexual, prone to awkward Freudian slips and just generally icky.

As a character, Tobias is totally rich. His clothes are disgustingly frumpy, he can never be completely nude, and he has anal-rapist -- short for psychoanalyst and therapist -- printed on his business cards. He's also married to the gorgeous and sex-starved Lindsay Bluth, played by Portia de Rossi (who's gay in real life! IroNY!)

In contrast, Dr. Fünke's Twitter personality is newborn and still sorta fætal. Whoever's behind it depends heavily on jokes that were thrown around during the short life of the show. But he's willing to interact and try giving the character off-network legs, which is ridiculously appealing. To my Twittered glee at him following me, @drtobiasfunke replied, "I'm only electronically following you. Physically, I'm attracted to women that have more of a Redford-esqe quality."

Hilarity ensues. I'm in love with a dead show all over again.

There's a lot to be said for an emotional connection forged by brand appropriation. If the cats behind Arrested Development hope to build momentum in its existing fanbase, maybe to help hype some future film in the make, microblogging is a good place to start. (A Dr. Tobias video blog would be awesome, too. I would watch it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Or maybe week.) I'm looking forward to seeing how @drtobiasfunke develops, and to following other AD characters as they appear.

Other fictional characters thriving on Twitter included the cast of Mad Men. Twitter personalities like @Don_Draper and @PeggyOlsen enjoyed a good run until AMC pulled out its bitch pistol and sent Twitter a legal takedown notice. Way to be wet blankets, guys: nothing like hosing the people that made you. UPDATE, 8:58pm: Looks like the Mad Men team's back on Twitter. Three cheers!

But back to the point. I'm not sure whether @drtobiasfunke has ties to Arrested Development's production team, but he got me into the show again. Hit me with ads, invite me to groups, send me petitions. I'm back on the team, ready to bring my favourite TV icons back to life.