Wutang x Rocksmith Collab

These are obviously strong hats. The giants style typeface is sweet. Giants fans will grab the blue on red. I like the blue on grey the best. The clincher is the merchandising though. These hats are so fresh they came over from the sweatshop packed on ice.

via Hypebeast

Patagonia Common Threads Initiative

I don't typically ride for Patagonia because I think most their clothing is over branded. I guess people that spend a lot of money on sweats like to have lots of labels. Snarkiness aside, they do have some corporate initiative when it comes to corporate responsibility. One thing I'm excited about, from a marketing perspective, is their Common Threads Initiative.

Basically, Patagonia helping people sell, and buy, old Patagonia gear on Ebay. They think it will reduce waste, which may be true. What I find intriguing is that Patagonia is making a bold statement about the quality of the gear. If it's good enough to be sold second-hand, it's probably pretty good stuff, (especially new.) The funny thing is that you might that it would hurt sales of new products but I actually really doubt it. I think people that buy new and used Patagonia stuff come from two totally different market segments. Anyways, I'll definitely have a look.

Carhartt is Holding Out on U.S.

Few brands have what Carhartt has- it is synonymous with quality, it is based out of Detroit, it is utilitarian and it somehow doesn't go out of style. Why can't I just be happy?

photo via Carhartt Europe

Brandweek is reporting that Carhartt is set to launch it's first nationwide intregrated marketing campaign complete with- television spend, a microsite, p.o.s. elements and facebook bells and whistles. It's targeting at young males between 18-34 and as you might expect, television ads will be on ESPN, Discovery and The History Channel. 

A couple of things come to mind here-

First- Part of Carhartt's charm is that the product speaks for itself. Not having a real marketing push has provided credibility to the brand. It's sort of amazing how disparate Carhartt's market reach is. Anyone from red necks to aspiring hip hop stars wear Carhartt. It also seems to be immune from the boom and bust cycles that apparel brands face in trendy youth market. I always figured it was because they weren't actually trying to be trendy as much as they were making durable clothes at good price points. And I figured this was by design. Carhartt didn't want to appear to be concerned about projecting an image because it was so busy creating clothes. 

Second- Did you know that Carhartt also has a streetwear label in Europe? For the longest time I just thought that Europeans viewed Carhartt differently than we did in the States whenever I saw websites advertising Carharttt gear. It's actually a completely different line and it's really cool. I imagine the brand didn't want to sell these products in the states because it's afraid to soil the good thing it has going by appearing to bowing to trends. I say this because I refuse to believe that Carhartt doesn't see the market for streetwear in the states. 

So what gives? The brand wants facebook gimmicks but doesn't want to look too trendy? That doesn't work for me. However, Carhartt can make this right by sending over it's A.P.C collaboration. We will look the other way about your "built Ford tough" television campaign. 

What kind of guy are you?

Draft FCB USA made these great print ads for Dockers. I'm really feeling the use of typeface and copy to describe the man that is wearing the pants. The description comes across quickly and, I think, probably resonates really well with Dockers' target market.

via Typography Served

Really good chocolate packaging

My sister recently bought me this bar of chocolate and wouldn't shut up about how much she loved the packaging. She was in the chocolate store and the store manager was ready to tell her all about how sustainable the product was and how the chocolate manufacturer really took care of the farmers. She didn't care though, she was just convinced that it was good by all the brown paper and the stamps. It wasn't a cheap bar of chocolate either.

It is cool packaging because it doest two things-

It makes you feel warm and fuzzy about the source of the product. It's got a photo of the head farmer and claims to be responsible in the treatment of the farmers themselves.

The combination of the brown paper and the type also make the chocolate appear to have been manufactured at the source. I'd rather eat chocolate made from a single cocoa source in West Africa than chocolate made from various cocoa sources and then shipped across the Atlantic to be manufactured.

This packaging gives me both those feelings and that is why is sells for $8 a bar.

I do think this brings up a good question. We, as progressive consumers in a wealthy society, have become aware of the huge income disparity between ourselves and the people that actually tend to the crops that produce the coffee and chocolate we enjoy. Labels like Fair Trade enhance our experience of eating the product and raise our willingness to pay. Why is it that we don't see similar packaging on other consumer goods such as apparel?

It's no secret that many consumers want to avoid buying clothing made in sweatshops. and many apparel companies have taken great strides to be more responsible in the regard. A few have even bought their own factories to ensure that working conditions are legit. Why doesn't the packaging of apparel reflect the steps that manufacturers have taken to ensure that no one was exploiting in the making of the product. I think there is a missed opportunity for companies that have taken the steps to treat the laborers in plants responsible to brag about it at the point of sale.