Steve and Barry's

Steve and Barry's is a store that has collegiate wear. There is a new one that moved into an old k-mart building and I have passed it so many times. This k-mart building has been empty for years and when new stores try to move into an old location, it is hard for it to be successful, so I was skeptical and didn't want to give it a chance at first, but because it was a new store that I had never heard of, I was curious about it. The sign in front of the store might have been misleading, at least it was for me. It looks like the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus logo. Every time I saw this sign it was confusing to me. I thought of college students at the circus. One day I decided to visit Steve and Barry's. Walking in I was expecting sportswear and college apparel, that's it. There were ads with Sarah Jessica Parker and Amanda Bynes and it surprised me. I saw graphic t's with food labels and names of bands. This store turned out to be nothing like I expected it to be. I came to a separate section that was the new Sarah Jessica Parker line called Bitten. There was a television with a running loop of an interview of SJP about her new line. I thought it was a great marketing tactic to hear straight from her about her line. It made the experience more personal. Next to this section was Amanda Bynes' line, Dear. They used the same stategy with the interview about her new line, too. I loved this new Steve and Barry's and the prices were not too expensive. The clothes were very fashionable and was target to young people. It has mens, womens, juniors, and kids. I will love to shop here again especially now that I know what it is all about.

Martha Stewart and Macy's

While the never ending and always interesting talk about Vera Wang and whether or not it was a good choice for her to have a line at Kohl's, Martha Stewart raises interesting views about having a line at lower end department stores. Several years ago Martha Stewart started a line at K-Mart that consisted of home accessories such as towels, linens, etc. To me this line was going to make it or break it. She had a heavily watched television show and then for her to come out with a line in K-Mart could have risked her career. Luckily it sold very well and just recently she started a line at a much higher end department store; Macy's. Here she started a higher end line that consisted of housewares that is going to launch very shortly.
After reading about Martha Stewart's line it then makes me consider that Vera Wang has much larger plans that we are not thinking about. Perhaps she is starting out at a lower end store (Kohl's) so after a few years she can then launch a more exclusive, higher end line in a store such as Macy's or Nordstrom's. To me this would be a great move because you are targeting different people with different incomes by having base lines then more exclusive lines.

People have different views and opinions on what is ethical and what’s not. I, personally, think things in this world have gotten way out of hand. There is hardly any dignity or respect in society. Television and advertising have taken things to a whole new level when it comes to ways of life being acceptable. I think that there is too much sexual content out there exposed to young people who are not mature enough to understand or deal with it. TV cannot be watched without some kind of reference to sex being shown during any time of the day.

I totally support celebrity endorsers when selling the brand, but not in a sexual way. I think commercials like for the hamburger and Paris Hilton was way offensive. Things like that are selling sex, not the product. Even though sells may go up because of that, it’s not for the right, ethical reasons. Celebrity endorsement is great for a company but they could loose some business if people get insulted if the ad is sexually offensive.

It is difficult to have a universal standard of what is morally and ethically acceptable, but companies need to consider everybody’s feelings and beliefs when creating an advertisement, not just a curtain group, because everyone will probably be exposed to it and it will impact their sells.

Role reversal

In class we talked about a certain Old Navy commercial that when a women said no, a man said yes. This was very offensive to some and raised many issues of women not having control and that being shown to young people. Another popular string of commercials are that of the Axe body spray. Women are forcing themselves upon men without their consent and the only objective is sex. For some reason these have more of a humorous vibe to them then when we watch the Old Navy commercial. To me this doesn't seem right because if you are offended by the Old Navy commercial, you should also be equally or not more to the Axe commercials. There is nothing subliminal about the Axe commercials and come right out and show that a woman is forcing themselves onto a man without their consent. I found an article that equally agrees with what I have said and goes into many good points.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2007-04-17-axe-sell-usat_N.htm?csp=34

Here is an example of one of the commercials as well.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/312591/axe_commercial/