― oops (Oops), Sunday, 3 August 2003 20:27 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 3 August 2003 20:33 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 3 August 2003 20:38 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 3 August 2003 20:44 (twenty years ago) link
and knocking my posting style which is often much more casual (and typo ridden) than yours, or saying that you "get a certain relief" in believing in your superiority/my stupidity compared to you, certainly DOESN'T help remove the "smug" brush from your reputation - a bit condescending, isn't it? and goes further to prove my theory that people who have mondo problems w/ madonna or find her repulsive or insufferable or whatever, usually hate fun (unless they direct their passion towards dubious substitutes i suppose, like...killing joke? =)
― Vic (Vic), Sunday, 3 August 2003 20:52 (twenty years ago) link
I do find Madonna hard to take insofar as her interviews and pretentions to political outspokenness go, which I think is what people were discussing when I called her "insufferable."
I couldn't care less whether people appear in advertisements, nor did I say anything about careerism (pro or con) which I think was the substance of the debates here.
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 3 August 2003 20:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 3 August 2003 21:01 (twenty years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Sunday, 3 August 2003 21:23 (twenty years ago) link
For a start, leave Killing Joke out of this. Secondly, you're making a giant leap by thinking I have a huge problem with Madonna. I don't, and I own and enjoy a few of her records, actually. If I did, in fact, loathe her, I wouldn't have been so surprised at this Gap ad, nor would have I have found it as tragic as I do. I actually have higher expectations for the woman, which is why I find it so tragic that she's pulling such a desperate stunt. I get the impression that it's not the lack of success of her record that's distressing her, but rather the gradual erosion of her relevance that is causing her to make such rash decisions. She should be above such concerns.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 3 August 2003 23:59 (twenty years ago) link
>For a start, leave Killing Joke out of this
and nah, i disagree. i don't think madonna is as concerned with her star waning as much as with her assets decreasing, since she views everything through financial eyes first. this was a business move, as is the upcoming publishng of the children's books (in multiple languages?! etc.), to a lesser extent. maverick has had a tough time following up on michelle branch's success, and now even branch wants out. she needs to find herself another alanis or something soon, since these days no record label can afford such a long dry-spell without calling it a day, and i think she's milked her star leverage to keep the company afloat as long as he could. besides, her star is still shining at an even, consistent wattage outside the US, as the album sold between 8 to 10 million copies in the worldwide market, not counting north america. but she knows that she need to solidify her domestic sales again and soon, or else maverick sink faster than you can say "candlebox"
― Vic (Vic), Monday, 4 August 2003 00:39 (twenty years ago) link
― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 4 August 2003 02:24 (twenty years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Monday, 4 August 2003 02:29 (twenty years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Monday, 4 August 2003 02:31 (twenty years ago) link
― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 4 August 2003 02:44 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Monday, 4 August 2003 03:01 (twenty years ago) link
I have lost all respect for Missy Elliot over this. She can go fuck herself.
― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 4 August 2003 11:22 (twenty years ago) link
...And people are FASCINATED by the ad. They stand there in little groups, frozen, staring up at the screens. (Occasionally, they'll break into little conversations about whether or not Madonna's "still got it," etc.) The level of attention is a little unnerving: you'd think they've never seen televised images of these entertainers before. Anyway, by this barometer, the commercial sure is popular.
― gap 'ployee (samjeff), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:04 (twenty years ago) link
― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:15 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:18 (twenty years ago) link
(But totally, altho when that came out i was like "who's the oddly-familiar fuddy-duddy with Michael?" Paul didn't seem very concerned with still "having it," it just seemed like a laugh.)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:19 (twenty years ago) link
"Say, say, say what you want but don't play games with my affectionTake, take, take what you need but don't leave me with no direction"
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:20 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 4 August 2003 18:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 4 August 2003 20:07 (twenty years ago) link
― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 4 August 2003 20:26 (twenty years ago) link
― Barima (Barima), Monday, 4 August 2003 20:35 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 4 August 2003 21:53 (twenty years ago) link
― disco stu (disco stu), Monday, 4 August 2003 22:03 (twenty years ago) link
― disco stu (disco stu), Monday, 4 August 2003 22:08 (twenty years ago) link
― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 11:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 11:59 (twenty years ago) link
― Larcole (Nicole), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:12 (twenty years ago) link
Fuckin' stranger than fiction.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:20 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:21 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:23 (twenty years ago) link
YEEHAW!!
― Andrew (enneff), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 13:00 (twenty years ago) link
Dan, would you like Alex and I to be ad agents, therapists or pyros? Or all three?
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 13:36 (twenty years ago) link
This is one of your lamest jokes/disses yet.Joke? What Joke? It's a solid provable fact based on watching the behavior of actual human beings in the Gap. Go down to the Gap and carefully watch the inhabitants. It'll blow your mind.
― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 14:35 (twenty years ago) link
CLEARLY ALL THREE. Who are you asking?
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 14:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 14:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 15:45 (twenty years ago) link
And they are different from the inhabitants of any other shop how?
― Larcole (Nicole), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 15:50 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 15:53 (twenty years ago) link
Note: Yes, I am exaggerating the intensity of the chihuahua on nitrous befuddlement I've noticed to anyone who goes into the Gap. But I'm not exaggerating about the existence of the phenomenon. It does, however, become painfully noticable in the Gap for Kids store. I suspect theres either subliminal messages on the loudspeaker or something being pumped in via the airvents < /PARANOIA>
― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 16:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 25 August 2003 15:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 25 August 2003 16:08 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 25 August 2003 16:09 (twenty years ago) link
Madonna Falls Into the GapHer new ad's a dud, but Devo cleans up the mess.By Rob WalkerPosted Monday, August 25, 2003, at 7:53 AM PT
Remember the song "Good Vibrations," as it was reworked with Sunkist-specific lyrics? Or whatever that hair-care product was that was peddled by a woman singing, "I'm gonna wash that gray right outta my hair!"? As ubiquitous as popular music is in ads these days, the practice of reworking lyrics for the benefit of the advertised product has mostly faded. Or it had until recently. This formerly shunned practice returns in two recent ads: one in which Madonna and Missy Elliott perform on behalf of the Gap (see it here) and another in which Devo sings for something called Swiffer (see it here.).
The much anticipated Madonna ad is a total dud. In it, she dances about on a city-street movie set, lip-syncing a song that mixes the beats of "Into the Groove" with lyrics from the more recent single "Hollywood." Then Missy Elliott pops up and does a short rap on the subject of Gap jeans, and the two improbably prance about like good, Gap-shopping friends. Madonna sings the closing line, "Get into the groove, got to show ya some moves, best to take it from me. …" Totally limp.
As a failure, the ad is interesting because Madonna has always been praised as much for her ability to market herself as for her actual talent as a singer and performer. Long before the "cool hunter" idea entered mainstream marketing discourse, she was renowned for spotting new trends and exploiting them for her own benefit. But in the wake of yet another box office tanking (what was that last movie called?) and disappointing album sales, she can't even get an actual commercial right. Maybe Madonna really is over.
The Swiffer ad makes no particular attempt to be hip, self-conscious or otherwise. It's a totally by-the-numbers spot in which a central casting Mom robot-dances around her suburban habitat, using Swiffer cleaning products. The sound track is "Whip It," given new lyrics: "When you've got a dirty floor/ You need Swiffer …" and so on, climaxing with, "With Swiffer—place looks great! It's not too late! Swiffer's good!" There's a mild joke at the end as Mom's daughters (curiously dressed in 1980s outfits) hope that they will not inherit whatever condition has afflicted the old lady.
This is the most preposterous ad I've seen all year—and I love it. It's hilarious. And it only works because they got Devo's actual lead singer, Mark Mothersbaugh, to sing the sublimely stupid new lyrics.
Advertising Age reported the debut of this spot with the headline "Former Anti-Business Band Does P&G Commercials," and the story referred to "Whip It" as "the anthem of … Devo's rage against a society dehumanized by industry and commercialism." I would call that a novel interpretation of the song's essentially meaningless lyrics, but never mind. It's certainly true that Devo had a vaguely angry and corrosive attitude (or pose?) toward consumer society in general.
But to ask whether this means Devo has "sold out" completely misses the point. Mothersbaugh told Ad Age that the band agreed to remake the song for the commercial because "it was so absurd." He understates the case: The ad is perverse. As an aside, this isn't the first commercial to feature a Devo song: Target used "It's a Beautiful World" not long ago (a song that might actually qualify as a rage-filled anthem, albeit a subtle one; the less subtle video featured a series of nuclear explosions).
I would say that the Swiffer spot comes off as a parody, but that's not quite right. Because what makes it so delightful is that somebody at an ad agency actually thought it would be a good idea. Given the opportunity to make such a self-evidently foolish thing into a reality, placed in time slots aimed at the mythic American Housewife, it would have been a crime for Devo to say no. The name "Devo" was, after all, short for "devolution," a kind of evolution in reverse—so how could they possibly stand in the way of such a perfect crystallization of that idea?
― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 25 August 2003 17:00 (twenty years ago) link