war profiteers wear sheeps clothes too

i discovered these stickers adorning phonebooth after phonebooth, and kiosk after kiosk, while walking around the lower east side this afternoon. dozens, everywhere. t5s is triple 5 soul, an ultra-trendy urban fashion label, widely popular in new york city. frankly, i like their gear, but my impression is quickly changing.


the image on the right is that of the revolutionary fist, known as a symbol of solidarity with various political struggles, and notorious for its affiliation with black power. the image on the left is the conquering lion of the tribe of judah, an image revered by rastafarians as a metaphor for emperor haile selassie i. rastafarians are revolutionary in nature, in that they struggle against the oppression of babylon. the obvious example of this idea's expression is bob marley's classic album rebel music. thus, the impression given, is that triple 5 soul is itself revolutionary. the stickers declare, "revolution's in! look, we're down with revolution! want to feel revolutionary? buy our clothes!"

so unfolds my suspicion of this marketing campaign as an attempt at co-optation. what strikes most is the timing of this sticker-bombing campaign (frankly, not unlike diesel's previous campaigns, such as "happiness is brought to you by diesel"), in that it has surfaced during a time when protest culture is teeming at the brim due to the current political climate. perhaps it is an innocent show of solidarity with the struggle, but considering the exorbitant prices for t5s' garb, and the very nature of the fashion industry and its relationship to coercive advertising, it is more likely that t5s is attempting to associate their brand with the vitality and momentum of the current anti-war movement, and thus be seen as an ally, and more importantly as a prospective retailer.

the lesson is that not just oil tycoons and weapons dealers profit from war. the fashion industry and the entertainment industry (with their revolutionary rock bands, for example) perceive lefty radical types as a market to be conquered: middle-class, college educated white kids, eager to spend their fresh earned paychecks—a demographic wet dream, and a gross generalization at that. and so, by co-opting images of revolution and using them as marketing devices, these companies profit from anti-war sentiment, hence representing another, less-recognized form of war profiteers, that deserve an equal amount of scrutiny that the more obvious culprits receive.

  
with that said, you know you're fucked when madonna's appropriating your culture. on her latest album, american life, she styles her image after cuban revolutionary leader ernesto che guevara.

first tefillin, now this. ugh.