LOVE OR HATE?
Press and publicity are the ultimate double edged sword. I love it and hate it...but mostly I hate it. It's always more likely than not that they fuck something up and make you sound like an idiot. Case in point, today. I get word from power forward, Rich L. that he has updated the 2nd part of the Reed Space story on his site. Which of course is great news. I loved Part 1. And I was glad i didn't say anything overtly retarded on Part 2.
Nice.
Then, Yasi comes into the office and reports there's a photo of me in the new issue of Adbusters. I was like "wha??". "I didn't do an interview with Adbusters."
Uh-oh.
Adbusters is one of those organizations you are either completely down with (i.e., you use U.S. Greenbacks as firewood and you shower 8 times per month) OR you are on their SHIT list and you can expect to be pegged with rotten tomatoes on your commute. Since I shower daily, I knew it was not good:
The headline: "HOW NIKE CONQUERED SKATEBOARD CULTURE"
The headline photo: ME.
WTF?!
Here's the punch line. They interview and quoted everyone in the industry from A-Z. Mention every SB Model from Z-A. And make no mention of me, Staple or the Pigeon Dunk. How did I manage to become Clip Art for the revolution?
Yo, Adbusters....I'm sayin'. I'm not hard to get in touch with. Call me. Email me. Visit me. But don't use me as a posterboy against my own clients, my own lifestyle and my own culture.
PS: Cole, congrats on your graduation. Sorry, can't make it Missouri.
posted by jeffstaple | 11:11 PM
9 Comments:
Yo I SAW this today at a bookstore just 2 hours ago! (It was of course at a "revolutionary" bookstore full of trustafundian Vassar kids with Aesop Rock t-shirts and Vegan diets). There was also a book called "Fat Chicks Rule" .... I guess there's worse stuff out there to be put in ;)
Hang tight. Adbusters didn't know a Dunk from a Jordan 2 months ago.
Damn Jeff Staple , that is mess up. Just chalk it up as free press.What kind of journalism(sp?) is that? If people would only realize that big business is the end result of small business being sucessful.Nike SB targets skaters but the fashion cats are the buyers. You can market your product but you can't choose your customers they will choose you.
Wow, that is really bad. If it is not the epitome of misrepresenation, then I don't know what is. I read the page of the article that you posted with your image ... wow. What a confused person the writer must be.
I will state that I am a skateboarder, albeit not as much as before I received my degree or started working fulltime and I love sneakers.
When was niketalk ever the online voice of skateboarding ? ....
When did skateboarding need defending ? Nike has conquered skateboarding, I didnt receive the memo.
Funny, no one wrote articles about DC, Lakai, es,etnies, emerica, Ipath, or any of the other shoe company that target models to skateboarders. If they dont have more agressive marketing campaigns towards skateboarders than nike than who does? People make nike out to be some predator in a van luring children in with candy and puppies.
We have a choice of what we buy and skate, truth be told for most of us it isn't even the 90 dollar ultra dunk that we would have to wait days inline for.(In case it was unclear, the majority of the people waiting on lines for the shoes are not skateboarders and are not skating them!)
They should have titled the article "I dislike nike. I am going to use skateboarding to push my point "
(akeem.adeniji@gmail.com)
theres no such thing as bad publicity.
ouch. are they allowed to even use your picture without your permission? isn't there some law about that?
when i read the title of the entry 'love or hate?' and saw the article with your picture and the pigeon dunk, i was assuming that this was about how many HATE the pigeon dunk and how many LOVE it.
SUE 'EM ALL!!
I understand if you are upset, and it would only be polite if they would ask permission first (don't know if its illegal tho?).
They are trying to get their opinion across (The "spiritual void" of always chasing some shoe, I can get that point sometimes). Weather you like it or not you are a big part of the current sneaker culture, and could pose as a posterboy for Nike SB / Dunks and/or sneakerheads. But yeah, certainly not polite to not even talk to you first.
PS. big fan of the blogg. A bit of a sneakerhead myself, one that actually reguarly read Adbusters. Contradiction of terms? ;-) Although not a big fan of Nike, don't like their cynical attitude towards the market and hype, and I frankly find most of their shoes to be ugly..
Peace
/O
Yo Jeff, Adbusters are good peeps. Seriously.
Unfortunately, you’ve been caught in publisher, Kalle Lasn’s personal fight with Nike. I interviewed him last year and he made it clear that Nike was public enemy #1. It has little to do with fashion or street life but closer to how Nike's factories are operated, the effects of globalization, etc. Adbusters are like watchdogs for the planet -- for the most part fighting for people, places and things who can’t fight for themselves.
I remember how we felt back in the halcyon Tokion days when Adbusters "attacked" us. It was something like, "Hey man, we're an indie mag too and we're on your side, sort of, go attack GQ, not us!” And then we were just glad another publisher we liked was paying attention. The tired cliché, “All press is good press” is kind of true here because although Adbusters co-opted your image, they have also validated you as the *leader* in your field. That ain’t so bad if you look at it that way.
The street’s been nothing but kind to me. And I will continue to support everything that it is, does, and gives. However, I also believe thinking bigger picture and long term is a good thing.
Are conditions that much better for those who make shoes in Asia for Adidas, New Balance, Vans, Asics, etc?
Not a pro-Nike person but I can't imagine that conditions at the other manufacturers factories are something to write home about.
Yo ChickenandWaffles is on point right there! Nike is the face of sweatshop labor only cause they are the biggest shoe company. The same way Wal-Mart is the face of wage-slavery, when Target isn't really any better.
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