Paris Hilton: Celebration of Mindless Mediocrity

I have a beef against Paris Hilton. Besides the fact that she's famous and has no discernable talent, she's also corrupting and influencing an entire generation of girls and young women. Suddenly, it's hip to be dumb. It's appalling that girls will put themselves down, dress like little hussies, and put their brains and common sense on vacation-- all to emulate a "celebrity."

At some point, our culture went from mocking Paris Hilton and her superficial ways to celebrating them and copying them. It seems that no one knows exactly why this transition occurred either. No one will openly admit to admiring Paris Hilton (maybe her cash, but not her), yet more and more trends, culture references, and styles can be attributed to her or those like her. Even her new music video, "Stars are Blind," is a celebration of mediocrity: forgettable singing, bland beach sets, mindless prancing, etc. Apparently, with enough money, you can force yourself into popular culture.

It's not that there's a lack of better role models (Gwen Stefani, Sofia Coppola, Angelina Jolie). Unfortunately, I think it's something different that explains Paris's appeal: She's lazy and her life's been easy. Her life has not been full of hard work, and young girls would love to live that fantasy life. She's an American princess, crowned by the youth that worship her.

World Cup PSA: Human Trafficking.

What starts out as a celebration of soccer enthusiasm turns into something entirely different very quickly: this new PSA by JWT/London shows us the ugly reality of some "tourists" during the World Cup: women forced into prostitution by human traffickers. According to the PSA, thousands of women will be trafficked into Germany for this purpose during the games.

Nagafuki Surprise

So, this new Bud Light spot is just a tad offending... a cad asks for the Nagafuki Surprise at a sushi place, swearing he can handle anything because he's been to Japan. The attractive and exotic waitress, broken English and all, comes back and hands him the platter, promising free beer for the table if he eats it all. The meal attacks the idiot, everyone laughs. Yeah, it's nice to see a jackass get his comeuppance, but to revive the stereotype of the Dragon Lady is hardly progressive. Then again, maybe it's "always worth it" according Bud Light. Sexist and racist... awesome!

Tui Beer: Brewed by Women, Marketed by Clouts.

Was this made by a team of college guys, or are they just selling to them? Tui's approach is incredibly immature, full of slow-mo shots of women in cut-offs, heels, tanktops, etc. The premise of this low-bro ad is simple: Tui beer is irresistable to men, and as such, all male workers have been banned from the brewery. They were drinking away the profits and product. Now, incredibly attractive, buxom, and otherwise above-average women staff the brewery-- it's become a Willy Wonka paradise of beer, but with playmates instead of Umpa-loompahs.

With commercials like this, I'm betting Tui is a cheap crappy beer often seen at frat parties and consumed in bulk. (At least, that's how they're positioning themselves.) It also seems, based on their own ads, that women have more sense than to drink this crap. Real women don't drink Tui. They drink Guiness [or insert other superior brand here].

*Update: Tui hails from New Zealand, where they've been "distracting the boys from the task at hand since 1889." I bet-- the girls have better things to do.

3G Ad a Metaphor for Phone Sex?

A new ad for Hutchison 3G Network in the UK has some great visual effects, but seems a little odd after a second viewing. Here's the story: a man leaves on a business trip; his wife tearily says goodbye at the bus stop. As he travels cross-country on the bus, the husband opens his mouth to talk, but a silky pink ribbon flows out. The ribbon travels back across the country, and wraps itself lovingly around the wife as she walks home from the bus stop. Next scene: the ribbon floats in an open window of a flat, and we see it's floating all through-out the room, also wrapped intricately around the wife, caressing her body, which is luxiourously stretched out on the bed. She smiles, sighing as if in pleasure, and then opens her mouth, and a yellow ribbon comes billowing out. As the ad ends, it travels out the window, supposedly to the traveling husband.

So-- not your typical cell phone ad. They aren't triumphing their network or their extra minutes. It seems to simply build awareness about the brand. This is so sensual though, and so exquisitely crafted, that it certainly seems to be about more than just staying in touch. Looking at the images would definitely support this theory-- she's wiggling and writhing in bed, her shoes are kicked off to the side. It's not like the creatives chose to show her in the living room or the home office receiving her call. It's certainly pretty progressive, and it's nice that the couple portrayed can have that kind of intimacy, if this is the case. Maybe next time the woman can take a trip and pleasure the man from afar?

Perfect Parenting PSA

There's a new PSA campaign out for AdoptUsKids, and it's funny, clever, and realistic. In a world where Mommy Wars exist, and women are held to ideals (often driven by the media) of what motherhood should be, these are great spots. Adoption is a long process, not for the weak, but as the spots point out, you don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. It'd help though, if you knew when to hang up the phone...

Biggest Product Placement Coup EVER?

Some have called this the most brilliant PR move ever. Others are saying it's the most exploitative example of product placement they've ever seen. I'm with the latter. In an effort to raise awareness about Belly Maternity clothes, PR firm 5W delivered a "hand selected" baby shirt for little Shiloh, the newborn daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, anticipating that the baby photos would be broadcast all over the world.

By now everyone's seen the photos. Does anyone notice the Belly Maternity logo on the infant? No. You don't. You would have no idea what brand of clothing Shiloh was wearing if not for 5W's press release. 5W is currently patting itself on the back, heralding its success like some sort of military mission that no one expected them to win. Did they win though? Are pregnant women and new mothers going to rush out and buy Belly Maternity clothing? I wish I could say otherwise, but I expect there will be a spike in sales. Especially since People Magazine cover is right on their homepage, with the infant T that Shiloh wore selling at $42. (Belly's even watermarked the images of the T-shirt, if you can believe it.)

It's disgusting that Shiloh has no say in what she's being used to sell, and it's worse that it's a marketing technique that will probably work. If the most anticipated celebrity baby of all time is wearing a special shirt, why not everyone else too? Pregnancy's becoming less of a stigma and way more hip-- women have more choices in what they wear while pregnant, and infants evidently do as well. It's yet another culture taken over by trends, marketing, and fashion. Littlest trend-setters of the world unite!