Consider this the (possibly) final chapter of the t-shirt trilogy that started here and then continued on here. For a start, I should probably preface this rant by saying that I actually like Uniqlo, and own a garment or two of theirs. Their clothes are reasonably well-made and surprisingly affordable. But...
There's an ad campaign for Uniqlo that is currently plastered all over the East Village these days featuring a blinding montage of images. Dubbing their 2009 t-shirt collection "UT MEGA CULTURE" (whatever that might mean), the clothes on offer display a dizzyingly colorful array of designs that largely cater to the store's retrophillic hipster demographic. That's fine and all, but there are two images on the ad that really bug me for some reason. Firstly, I think we can all agree that the gent pictured above in the "Kill Your Television" t-shirt is in strenuous need of a rigorous beatdown. This has little to do with the t-shirt (a Ned's Atomic Dustbin allusion?), but more just because he's clearly asking for it. My bigger issue, however, lies with the image below; a black t-shirt featuring the Black Flag bars. Inside the bars is a pastiche of images from the Japanese animated series from the mid-70s, "Battle of the Planets."
I can't quite say why this bothers me. Is it because, hey -- I'm an old poop and was a slavish fan of both Black Flag and "Battle of the Planets" (I can easily rattle off the names and key characteristics of each member of G-Force if you're not entirely convinced of the latter)? Do I bristle at the seemingly blithe appropriation of Raymond Pettibon's iconic design for the Black Flag logo (and, for that matter, is Pettibon, Greg Ginn or SST Records getting a financial slice for the usage?) I suppose it's technically no different from Shepard Fairey using various images from Punk Rock in his ongoing campaign of Obey Giant street art, but I know for a fact that in Fairey's case, he utilizes those visual elements with profound respect for the artists and the music they represent. More to the first point, I'm probably more bothered by my own presumption that the malnourished whippersnapper wearing the t-shirt in question probably hasn't the first clue about either Black Flag or "Battle of the Planets." I'm not sure why that should matter, let alone bother me so much. But it does.
Ok Alex it has happened again. Tonight, just minutes before I scrolled to your site, my husband and son were sitting on the couch examining an oversized circular of t-shirt photos that my husband pulled out from a trashcan today and brought home (yes he does that more than makes me happy). The determination was that there was nothing of interest for them. When I read your post I asked my husband, "Was that t-shirt thing you were looking at from Uniqlo?" "Yes" was, of course, his response.
Posted by: Jill | May 14, 2009 at 08:11 PM
I imagine that these shirts "might" look cool in........Tokyo? But this stuff seriously gets lost in translation over here......
I agree that groover #1 seriously deserves a beatdown....by a bunch of girls.
Posted by: hntrnyc | May 15, 2009 at 01:36 AM
Any chance the bars are a non-aware spontaneous and coincidental re-creation of the Blag Flag symbol? I mean, four bars with alternating offset. Anyway, the Japanese.... what can I say?
Posted by: Jon | May 15, 2009 at 06:29 AM
Yeah, I thought of that (the bars being simply a coincidence) right after I posted, but I can't believe it's an accident.
Posted by: Alex in NYC | May 15, 2009 at 07:04 AM
I will have to do a post about the nightmare I keep having ... involving the jackass in the purple.
Posted by: EV Grieve | May 15, 2009 at 01:07 PM
oh yes. Marketing to Youth=its starting to hit home. What a shame. The douche with the thumbs up and the "Kill Your Television" shirt...I at first was taking it as "irony" (as I am small part hipster myself, I won't lie) but then I quickly saw that it wasn't, his actions read that he really seems to have no fucking clue what's branded on his chest (I ned's atomic dustbin, btw). As for the second shirt...I personally never watched that specific anime so I didn't recognize it, but being a big anime fan I thought it was just a random picture & I was a bit miffed, and being a Black Flag fan I then became EXTRA angry.
It's like your grandmother or that awkward relative at the family get-togethers who gets you a SKULL NECKLACE for your birthday or something...that uncomfortable feeling of someone just giving you a proverbial pat-on-the-head like you're a fucking idiot and will buy into things easily because you're different.
Despite all of that, In the end, I really do like the idea of bright colors and quick & clever slogans/images on a shirt. It's trendy, yes, "now" yes (like that guy was saying about people wearing the shirts in Tokyo...I personally take that as a compliment) The only thing is how you do it. Sometimes, irony/tounge-in-cheekness/wit/Ibetyoudon'tknowthisobscureculturereference
...in short, HIPSTER-ness can go too far.
Posted by: IQ32 | May 23, 2009 at 03:04 AM
I meant to say I love NAD. ha..
Posted by: IQ32 | May 23, 2009 at 03:05 AM