Is Vice Nice Now?

Imagine my surprise, when I tripped over an article about Vice Magazine... advertising for BMW... ! I guess the street kids have grown up and discovered that money can, in fact buy nice things. What a change from the Vice I knew--the one that told the next gen where to go and what to do with themselves.

A few years ago, I worked at a web design shop in Montreal, Normal (later re-named Normal Solutions). We prided ourselves on being "cutting edge", ahead of our time, and indeed, we were. We were designing 3-D models for virtual shops before others were, and coming up with cool and new designs. I was, at the time, new on the scene, and so I took a back seat to the more senior designer... until, one day, I got my big break: I was allowed to re-design the web site for Vice Magazine (they already had a web site, but it was mostly images, and not very user-friendly). How cool was that? To be a part of the hip and trendy mag with a smug, socially defiant culture! I was very excited at the prospect.

The magazine staff were located in the same open-concept building as we were, and so I got used to regular visits at my work station, asking me if I'd mind being photographed for the "don'ts" section, and taking pictures of various items located on my desk. My personal office supplies were well documented in the pages of Vice, that year.

Tequila!

Who would create a big hoax and then flaunt it, in the face of adversity? Well, this Madison Avenue design shop, for one. Tequila, also located in 35 countries, boasts a glossy, A-list client roster with such big names as Adidas, Canon, Nissan, and Visa, among others.

Their latest campaign for Sony PlayStation, draws users into their interactive advertising "game" by making reference to the devastating 2004 tsunami that took place in SouthEast Asia, killing more than 225,000 people and destroying the lives of many of those left behind. My initial reaction was to balk at such a tactic. Is this the only way in which to grab peoples' attention, in a world that seeks to trump each adrenaline rush with the next, in order to grab the market's attention, if only for a fleeting moment? Perhaps it is. Or perhaps they've gone over the acceptable edge of shock value? You be the judge.

I have to compliment them on their web site's great interface design... I love the way they've made it so you zoom in and out of outter space/their offices. That is very fun.

Marketing Campaign: More Garbage, Delivered Straight to Your Front Door!

The other day, I arrived home to discover that a package had been left at my door. More accurately, it was a plastic bag hanging off my front door knob. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it wasn't really a package in the true sense of the meaning (something you look forward to unwrapping, perhaps a pleasant surprise from someone who is thinking about you). No, this was marketing collateral.

It caught my attention, alright... when I opened up the plastic bag, I saw a large plastic Yoplait Yoptimal yogurt tub inside. Odd, I thought, because it felt so lightweight. I opened up the tub, and sure enough, inside the otherwise empty plastic tub, was a glossy paper pamphlet.

One thought immediately crossed my mind: what a waste of plastic. Some cities don't even recycle these kinds of plastics. What about people who don't recycle at all? Their plastic bins will likely end up in some landfill for the next hundred years. What about all the other plastic tubs in my neighbourhood? and the tubs in the neighbouring neighbourhoods? ... and beyond? I felt cheated, and worse, I felt like they'd duped me, somehow, into thinking this was going to be something good, but in fact, it was just more stuff to throw away.

It made me mad that a big company could be so irresponsible, in the name of trying to capture consumers' attention (and hence, their money) in this ever-changing world of competing markets. A regular yogurt eater, I do not want to buy this brand, because of their lack of foresight.

According to OttawaKiosk.com, the Ottawa-Gatineau population reached a staggering 1,150,000 in 2005. It's probably more now. Assuming that the campaign was city-wide, and each household received the same package that I did, that's a lot of new garbage that will have to be disposed of... without ever serving any purpose beyond feeding maws the giant yogurt company. Large, successful companies have responsibilities to their communities, and should be strategizing on how to help communities, not hinder them. Shame on Yoplait.