Dead Andy Warhol To Sell Levi's

To persuade hipster fools to spend $200 on a pair of jeans, Levi's has enlisted the help of Andy Warhol, the granddaddy of all things hip. Called "Warhol Factory X Levi's," the jeans are priced between $150 and $250 and will be available next Spring.

GM to Market Hummer-Branded Laptop

General Motors has signed a deal with computer maker Itronix to manufacture a Hummer-branded laptop, ruggedly designed for those who work outside or just plain love all things Hummer. Priced at $2,988, the laptop isn't cheap but it is said to survive repeated 30 inch test drops and remain functional.

Scion Hip Hop Promotion Backfires

Bucky Turco reports Scion's latest hip hop promotion, NEXT UP, an unsigned emcee search, has recently faced backlash from the very community it was trying to reach. The car company disqualified an emcee because of his politically charged lyrics about President Bush and the war. The track, entitled Black Gold, is an obvious reference to oil and the war.

The rap artist, Bavu Blakes, was willing to alter his lyrics a bit so he could advance to the next round of the competition and potentially win a $50,000 marketing deal, but Inform Ventures, the marketing company handling the promotion for Scion, said he was disqualified because his lyrics were too political.In fairness to Scion, Bavu entered the "underground" category rather than the "political" category but many still believe Bavu was censored.

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Jessica Alba to Launch Baby Clothing Brand

Without kids and still doing the Hollywood singles scene, albeit with older men because she thinks guys her age are too immature, Jessica Alba has decided to launch a line of baby clothing to help style-conscious parents make their kids look as hip as they do. Naturally, as with all things celebrity, a portion of the proceeds will go to charity - in this case, orphanages and women's shelters. The brand is set to launch next April.

Legalities of Brand Usage in Spec Spots Questioned

Television commercial director and photographer Paul Papanek who, a few years ago, directed a couple of spec spots recently received several letters from Coke's in-house and out-of-house legal councils informing him he used Coke's logo without permission. His spots have been featured on his websites as well as on The Spec Spot and Boards Magazine. Each of the three letters Papanek received were increasingly threatening with the last one, dated August 15, informing him he must remove the spots from all the sites within 14 days or suffer nastier legal ramifications.

While Coke is well within their rights to protect their logo and brand, Papanek, writing in the WheresSpot Yahoo news group, wonders about the implications of Coke's request. Papanek cites the common practice of directors and production companies producing spec spots to promote their businesses, build their freelance careers or to pitch new business and wonders how this might affect spec creative. We wonder if new businesses pitches and creative reels will now be required to have logos digitized out. The two spots in question can be seen here and here. Papanek has commented and posted Coke's letters here.

Serena Williams to Launch Cosmetics Line

Cosmetics company Flirt! has signed a deal with tennis pro Serena Williams under which she will become the company's new Guest Creator, a position offered to celebrities that provides them input into new product lines. Williams (or more likely the person writing her press releases) says she is a beauty junkie. "Now I am able to create makeup that works with what is in style. Creating cosmetics allows me to be glamorous and adventurous plus show off my flirtatious side, a fun contrast to my life on the court." Williams' creation, whatever it may be, will debut at Kohl's Department store in February 2006.

Mary-Kate Olsen May Become Calvin Klein Spokesmodel

The MSNBC gossip folks are reporting Mary-Kate Olsen may be speaking with Calvin Klein about becoming the clothier's new spokesmodel. Seems a fitting job for a college and food-challenged celebu-billionaire. Of course, no one at Calvin Klein is talking.

Dish Network to Copy Half.com Town Naming Stunt

AdFreak reports the "marketers begging towns to change their name" trend, originated by then Half.com VP of marketing Mark Hughes is showing no signs of slowing. Like television and movie producers latching on to a past success rather than attempting original thought, the marketers over at Dish Network are offering free service to all residents of any town willing to change its name to Dish.

Michigan to Toyota: Keep Your Cars Out of Our Town

Japanese car maker Toyota had plans to shot a spot called, "Toyotaville" in the neighborhood of Cherry Hill Village in Canton, Michigan showing a Toyota parked in every driveway. That's not exactly the sort of thing you try to do in America's center of the automotive universe unless your an American car maker. Resident said "sorry, not in my backyard." The deal ended. One canton resident told the Canton Observer, "Maybe I'm just old-fashioned. I don't understand the excitement of Toyota in what is traditionally and what will hopefully continue to be Chrysler, Ford and GM country. Southeast Michigan, rightly or wrongly, was built on the automotive industry. I feel like there should be some loyalty to dance with the one that brought you."

Old Navy T-Shirts Butcher Asian Culture

Asian expert Tian has taken Old Navy to task for their apparent lack of cultural knowledge in the creation of several t-shirts which butcher culture such as associating the Japanese rice wine sake with the Great Wall of China and describing a black t-shirt with images of Asian men in black masks with a Ninja star as a Karate t-shirt rather than, correctly, a Ninjutsu t-shirt. Seems America's great melting pot has forgotten the rest of the world has many varied, distinctive cultures that don't wish to be melted away by American marketing tricks. Tian does tell us Old Navy customer service reponded kindly and apologetically when the Sake t-shirt was brought to their attention writing, "It was not our intention to cause any offense. Please accept our apologies for any concern created by our product."