media: marketing

30% of the retail price of these shirts will be donated to “some of the country’s best charities. What better excuse to go shopping?” The retail price is $68. The charities are:

Women in Need
Free Arts NYC
Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Children’s Hope India
American Refugee Committee’s Darfur Relief Effort

I like these kinds of things because they bring up two issues: Why don’t people just contribute $20 (or, in most cases, something like 10 cents) directly instead of filtering it through a corporation? And should we have to personally get something out of it in order to contribute to worthy causes?

For other examples, look here, here, and here.

This mortgage company is using sexy retirees to sell mortgages. The gimmick is along these lines: Your relationship with your home loans should age as well as your relationship with your spouse. Here are three pics on the website:

Click here for the website. Make sure to look at the bottom right and find the link to the TV commercial (hint: wet t-shirt).

I took these pictures of a store front in Orange County. They illustrate the co-optation of our democracy by capitalism and the way in which “freedom” has been reduced to being able to “choose” how to spend your money.

Don’t miss the “Denim Now” button with the peace dove.

Bonus: A good ol’ fashioned sexist one (notice where his cigarette is pointing).

(Found here.)

Take a careful look at these two images (you may need to download them to see it). The first is from Cosmo, the second from Maxim. There is one incredibly subtle and important difference: the latter shows a nipple and the former does not. I’ll let you guess which one is in Playboy. This is a great example of how carefully advertisers are planning their images according to their audiences.