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http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-06/23.shtml

This is gross.

That is pretty nauseating.
It makes me think of that rap Bill Hicks did, the "everyone in the audience that works in marketing and advertising, please go home and kill yourselves. You're evil, and I'm not joking about this..." bit.
I don't know much about copyright law, but I'm guessing Nike does, and I doubt they'd do this without making sure they could get away with it.

devils advocate.

ok, so you're out of college and grew up on hardcore and other great music. you went to art school and skated and listened to minor threat constantly. your band struggles to make it and you of course have to get a day job now that you're no longer on the dole. fuck - those student loans are piling up, but you and your friends started a graphic design shop. it's you and your mate john, who also skated with you since 7th grade and went to all those awesome shows when you were straight edge, then also got off the edge wagon and started getting shitfaced every night listening to the jesus lizard. your company starts by making skate decks and screening posters for bands. eventually you get into web and print, and one day nike approaches you cuz your company kicks ass.

shit, this is post modernism at it's finest right? i mean, you've been approriating and recontextualizing for years now (we learned those big words in art school) - why not? i fucking love minor threat, most of the jags seeing the ad won't know, but those who REALLY GET IT, will see it and say, that's fucking cool man - MINOR THREAT! listen, one way or the other, i have to make this ad for the client in order for me to afford the rent in my cool loft space. it can be something retarded and stupid, or something that is actually cool, and maybe will get some 10yr old skater kid into cool music. and shit, maybe pitchfork or a bunch of internet nerds will get all uppity about it and there will be a big buzz, and maybe dischord can sell a few more records, and i can in some sort of fucked up way - help out the scene. if i have to be part of the system, maybe i can sorta use it for something good right?

it's totally cool and a nod to the history when a band rips off a previous record cover right - so what's the big deal here?









/devils advocate

you make an interesting case against my gut reaction nick

I wonder how this artwork got past Nike's legal department. Somebody really screwed up.

The first question that you ask of a marketing department is: "Does this ad include or resemble any third party materials?"

That is the first question that you ask. You then ask that question an additional six hundred times. Why? Because marketing department people just fucking lie all the time. It's kind of their job. To lie.

Marketing departments.

Marketing departments.

P.S. The Clash. So great, the simple statement of this album cover!

it's hard to determine what to take on this, the marketting people should have asked for approval to use it yes, but on the side of this Nick fellow, it kind of works to get kids into a musical artist thats NOT shitty and has had a place in skate culture.

I've owned one pair of nikes, I feel kind of shitty for buying them or even wanting them, but I can't change that. Nike makes fairly decent skate shoes in the spectrum of things, regardless of peoples views on them

Can't until they use this for their next ad campaign


I've already got their slogan for the campaign:

WEAR SHOES OR DIE!!!

Two more:



And how could we forget Negativland?
http://foetusized.org/u2.html

Intellectual property questions aside, what is it that really distinguishes an homage (good) from a rank appropriation (bad)? What is it that distinguishes The Clash's theft from that of Nike's?

tipcat wrote:Intellectual property questions aside, what is it that distinguishes an homage (good) from a rank appropriation (bad)?

A good band doing it versus a bad band doing it.
If someone like Shellac mocked the cover art to a CCR record, it would be seen as homage or funny.
Now if someone like ICP did the same thing, people would get angry.