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. With Fan creativity image of the day
I’m ambivalent about Battlestar Galactica, but I do like these posters, via ffffound.
And with that, I wish you a happy holiday. See you later.
New merch for Nike metafans
NikeTalk, the massive sneakerhead chat community (claiming 64,000+ registered users), is finally selling branded merch, Freshnessmag reports. So if it’s not enough for you to express your Nike fandom by wearing Nike products, or by communicating with others about Nike products, you might want to get a product that commemorates your participation in communication about Nike products. In other words, you will be not simply fan, but a fan of the form of fandom in which you are participating. A metafan.
In other news, Freshness also notes the new round of Nike T’s commemorating all things Dunk-y. Maybe it’s just me, but they seem pretty weak.
J.K. Rowling loves your fandom! Until you try to monetize it
According to this A.P. story, the author of Harry Potter has “expressed support” for fandom-driven efforts like The Harry Potter Lexicon site — “a fan-created collection of essays and encyclopedic material on the Harry Potter universe.”
But apparently a book collecting material from the site is a different matter: Rowling (and Warner Brothers) are suing to block its publication.
In the lawsuit — filed on Halloween — Rowling claimed that the print version of the Lexicon would improperly interfere with her plans ambien to write her own definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia, one that would include new material not in the novels.
“I cannot, therefore, approve of ‘companion books’ or ‘encyclopedias’ that seek to preempt my definitive Potter reference book for their authors’ own personal gain,” Rowling said in a news release issued by Warner Bros. The film giant owns all the intellectual property related to the Potter books and movies.
It’s pretty easy to see the difference between the two sorts of “companion” books being discussed here, and it’s hard to believe that a fan-created one would really undercut sales of an official version with Rowling’s name (tramadol) on it.
KAWS take on Darth Vader
New from the ever-astonishing KAWS. He did this for/with Lucas Films, and it’ll be on sale in his Japan boutique soon, if you’re in a position to do anything with that information. I was just talking to somebody about Star Wars fandom the other day. I was into it for the first three movies, but never could get interested in the more recent stuff. Still, I had way too many Star Wars action figures not to appreciate the coming-full-circle nature of this particular item.
Design critic + hoops fan = protest T-shirt maker
A fan of the University of Kansas basketball team, and, more to the point, of the “curling, arc-serifed typeface” on the team’s uniforms, is upset about a redesign:
[In] an ill-conceived (and expensive) attempt to standardize the KU brand, university officials have replaced these famed letterforms with a typeface that only a corporate consultant could love. The new typeface– Trajan–cuts a lackluster profile unfit for the country’s premier program.
Or the T’s he’s selling more concisely put it: Trajan Sucks.
I’ve been a little out of the loop, so maybe Uni Watch has already covered this. But I heard about it here.
A brand of imaginary brands
A collection of unique shirt designs which are inspired and pay homage to some of the most memorable places, corporations and companies in 20th century fiction – from the sunny shores of Amity Island (Jaws) to the frozen climes of Outpost #31 (The Thing).
Definitely my kind of thing. Above, of course, HAL, from 2001. Plus Tyrell Replicants (Blade Runner), Polymer Records (Spinal Tap), Mighty Mick’s Boxing (Rocky), etc.
Via Coudal.
Previous imaginary brand notes here.
Thanks to Web 2.0, you can be friends with a rock star’s intern
Amusing post from the always-enjoyable Online Fandom (Nancy Baym) on friending Michael Stipe and Peter Buck on Facebook. “For weeks nothing happened. Which was about what I expected,” she writes. When suddenly one day: “Both friends requests were accepted within 45 minutes of each other.” She continues:
Over the next couple of hours I watched as they both joined lots of groups and became friends with the same people at the same time.
And I’m thinking, ok, I didn’t really expect it to really be you, but do you have to make it SO OBVIOUS that it’s not?
In the end, though, she keeps Stipe and Buck among her “friends” just the same. For full explanation and thoughtful consideration of pros and cons, here’s the whole post.
Note: I’ve added a new category and backed in previous Murketing posts on Facebook etc., all now are categorized under “Social” Studies. Also: Murketing’s del.icio.us links on “SocialNetworking” here.
The Tat Test
I recently noticed an ad agency advertising itself to potential clients by asking if their brands could pass “the T-shirt test.” Please. The T-shirt test is for also-rans and wimps. Can your brand pass the tattoo test? Joining the likes of Nike, Apple, and PBR, is none other than brand underground subject The Hundreds. That’s their bomb logo, inked forever into some loyal (and in my view crazy, no offense Ben & Bobby) consumer’s skin.
The value of Paris
So have you actually read the petition that Paris Hilton’s people are apparently trying to use to keep her out of jail for this DUI thing or whatever it was?
She provides hope for young people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives.
Apparently more than 3,000 people have signed it.
I think they should go to jail.
Fanfic: stigma fading, becoming more marketable
Reason has a piece about fan fiction, written by a fan ficiton writer, arguing that “Fanfic’s stigma seems to be receding: Some fan writers have snagged lucrative contracts, either for original works or for books based on older literary classics not protected by copyright.”
While the piece is largely positioned as a response to a particular anti-fanfic “diatribe” that apparently appeared in 2005, it’s still somewhat interesting.
Take Solo for the Living by Tanya Golubchik (a 27-year-old Australian molecular biologist who writes as “Tango”), a work in progress that is currently a hit in the Phantom of the Opera community. A novel-length sequel to the 2004 film that unfolds against the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War, Solo features an original and sophisticated story that develops the film’s characters in an entirely new direction as well as a vividly depicted and carefully researched setting that rivals any published work of historical fiction.
Of course what I’m interested in there is the idea of the “Phantom of the Opera community.”
Anyway, the piece also mentions FanLib, which I wasn’t familiar with, and upon visiting the relevant site, still don’t fully understand. Its slogan is “people powered entertainment,” and its “software and services” promise to deliver “value” for marketers, and “fun” for fans. Hmmm.
Good Disguise
In Consumed: The 501st Legion: Can shared fandom for pop-culture iconography convert escapism to engagement?
[Note: Normally I link to the no-registration-required RSS link for the column on the NYT site, but for whatever reason, Consumed was not included in the Times Magazine’s RSS feed this week. So, the entire column follows, or, you can use this Times link, but it does require registration. Sorry. I have no control over that stuff.]
Some people might resent being mocked on national television by Bob Eubanks. But Mark Fordham is philosophical. Fordham, who is 43, is the commanding officer of the 501st Legion, an organization of Star Wars “costume enthusiasts.” Dressed as Darth Vader, he was among the 200 or so members of the club, all in shockingly convincing Star Wars villain outfits, who marched in the televised Tournament of Roses Parade this year, which was the occasion for Eubanks to crack that all of them were “groupies” who “need to get a job.” Of course Fordham found this annoying and wrongheaded, for reasons we’ll get to. On the other hand, he says: “Think about it — what we do doesn’t make sense. It transcends the reasonable.”
Extreme manifestations of fandom frequently transcend the reasonable, at least from the point of view of outsiders. And Star Wars has inspired extreme fandom and consumer behavior from the day of its blockbuster 1977 opening. Still, the 501st Legion is remarkable, and not just because it has 3,385 active members in 43 countries and enforces rigid costume-authenticity standards. The club was founded 10 years ago, after two fans in storm-trooper outfits attended a Star Wars rerelease opening. One of them, Albin Johnson, posted some pictures on his Web site, then started posting pictures other people sent him of their storm-trooper costumes. This led to the formation of a group that could, Johnson has explained, give the hobbyists a “collective identity at the conventions — a family of their own.” Such expressions of quasi community on the basis of shared admiration are common enough, but within a few years, the 501st had added a surprising dimension to its group fandom: costuming for charity. Read more
Department of department-store fandom
This NYT article today looks at Chicago “superfans” of the department store Marshall Field’s, who are upset over its “demise” since its corporate parent was bought by Federated Department Stores (best known as the owner of Macy’s).
The most fervent, and the most vocal, of the believers are determined to send Macy’s and its little red stars packing. The arrival of Macy’s, they say, wiped out a landmark store founded by a retail giant who was also a benefactor to many of the city’s cultural and educational institutions.
Fueled by a mix of nostalgia and civic pride, 60,000 or so people signed an online petition last year urging executives at Federated — which in 2005 bought out Marshall Field’s parent, the May Company — to keep the name Marshall Field’s for all the stores.
Some Field’s loyalists have printed T-shirts, sweatshirts, lapel stickers and bumper stickers reading “Boycott Macy’s” and “Forever Marshall Field’s.”
Cursory Googling indicates that this has been going on for a while, and I can’t quite tell whether it’s really a big deal or just a handful of noisy zealots. Either way, it’s always interesting to come across retail loyalty that extends quite this far. Clearly in this case, there’s a kind of regional issue going on, with Marshall Field apparently serving as an icon of Chicago. (And Macy’s representing the annoying New York City.) This site is pretty explicit about the landmarkiness of the store: “For over 150 years, Marshall Field’s defined Chicago as an international city.” That’s quite a claim! And remember they aren’t knocking down a building, so this isn’t about architecture. It’s about a retail brand. And about the “Chicago-style quality” the store had, according to this person, anyway.
Is there a more modern retail palace today that people will eventually feel that kind of attachment to? Will people in Minneapolis get emotional about the Mall of America some day?
The Smell Test
In Consumed: Unforgivable: With the pop culture-ization of the fragrance aisle, it’s harder to make a hit scent linger.
A few years ago, when the fragrance industry was in a slump, the cosmetics company Coty released Glow by JLo, a perfume that served, more or less, as a Jennifer Lopez brand extension. There had been celebrity-linked fragrances before, but Glow’s successful start-up helped spark a kind of beauty-aisle casting call, resulting in deals involving everyone from Celine Dion to Danielle Steele. Perhaps inevitably, the ubiquitous Sean (Diddy) Combs got in on the party this year, in the form of a scent called Unforgivable (produced by an Estée Lauder subsidiary), which costs around $55 for a 2.5-ounce bottle. It is one of the top-selling men’s fragrances of the first half of 2006 and may even end up the year’s most successful launch for men or women, according to NPD Group, the market research firm….
Continue reading at the NYT site, via this no-registration-required link.
Uniform Distaste
While I basically detest the New York Mets, I’m sympathetic to their fans who feel that:
The addition of black to the team’s color palette in 1998 betrayed and disrupted this proud aesthetic history, transforming the franchise from one of baseball’s best-looking teams into one of its ugliest…
That language comes from an online petition that vigorously protests the use of black in the the team’s uniform, “call[ing] upon the ownership, management, and equipment staff of the New York Mets to DITCH THE BLACK and reinstate blue to its rightful place of chromatic supremacy in the team’s color scheme. It’s time to restore the club’s aesthetic heritage and make the Mets a team we can all be proud to look at once again.” There are already more than 800 signatures, and I’m thinking that number will grow.
Who could be behind this project? There can be only one answer.
Update (10/8): NYT story on Ditch The Black. (Highlight: “To Mr. Lukas, the change bordered on sartorial sacrilege. ‘It would be like if in Washington they decided that the red, white and blue is a little outdated, and maybe we should change the red to a burgundy.'”
Q&A: Neek
At some point during the reporting of the Brand Underground story, I was introduced to Neek, a high school student who was into The Hundreds, and was also kind of a figure on the NikeTalk message boards. Not long after that, in fact, his notoriety on NikeTalk culminated in someone making a Neek T-shirt. (That’s it at left; the style is an echo of Supreme, of course.) Apart from being another reason that NikeTalk kind of freaks me out, I thought this development was fascinating: Neek had basically become famous by way of his fandom, to the point that he’d made some strange transition from consumer to brand. Of course when I say “famous,” it only applies in the sense of 21st Century microfame of a super-fragmented culture. But still.
Anyway, Neek ended up not being part of the Brand Underground piece, but he’s certainly an interesting manifestation of that culture, and we kept in touch. Lately he’s gotten involved with a project called Fruition — another step on the road to converting his lifestyle into a way to make a living — and I decided it would be worth a Q&A. So here it is.
Let’s start with the very straightforward background stuff about where you live and how you ended up there and so on — including where the name “Neek” comes from, if you please.
Yeah. I live in Vegas and I just graduated high school actually. I am 17 years old, turning 18 next month. I ended up in Vegas because my parents wanted to move away from the hustle and bustle in New York City. They wanted a more slow-paced life. So that is why I am here.
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Kim Fellner's book 
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