1990s Antique Roadshow (sort of): Emerica “Klink” Ad

It would be mighty nice if more companies did ad archives – it saves valuable Tampa vert video clip-watching time sifting through boxes of old magazines and helps the chronologically challenged, such as myself. A good deal of skateboard culture, such as it is, can be wrung from the yellowing pages of TWS and Thrashers, as internet websites more capable than this one point out on a daily basis. And in these times of harsh economy, if you’re one of these vaguely remitted “brand managers” wouldn’t you be jumping at the chance to circulate already paid-for advertising among untold billions of glazed-over internet eyeballs?

Anyhow as an addendum to this recent series of memory lane barrel-scraping entries, I found myself clicking through Emerica’s pretty extensive ad archive the other day and eventually went on a hunt for what must’ve been my first pair of their shoes, the Klink, pictured above. Except in dark blue. I gravitated toward them in large part cuz of the strap on the back, a feature that was key to myself and others in the days that jeans were worn loose and long. It’s funny, I recall these shoes as pretty by-the-numbers basic mid-90s fare but revisiting the ad, the wavy stitching patterns kinda threw me for a loop. I suppose though this was around the time when DC was affecting a shift towards the “sportier” designs that would later lure Emerica’s thruster-air busting Kenny Hughes with the allure of Euro Supertours yet to come.

And if I had to guess, at the time I probably would’ve put some long odds on Chris Senn hanging on longest out of the team bros listed off in the lower left.

Have It Your Way

“Our burgers are fucking delicious,” perhaps

Hitching your wagon to the whims of the masses can make for an interesting ride. Decision by consensus has produced some amazing cultural milestones in our time, including but not limited to the Soulja Boy dance, David Archuletta and Wikipedia.

Of course public opinion is often way off: CNN entrusted the internet peanut gallery with reporting power, which produced a sort-of plausible but still wildly untrue story about Steve Jobs nearly dying. There’s the inexplicable appeal of “The Mummy” movies, as well as David Archuletta.

I’ve noticed that skateboard-minded advertising is similarly hit-and-miss in this way. Real boldly rolled the dice with a minimalist ad generated by the Slap message board brain-trust, specifically known Hero Member “sal23,” in reaction to some apparently questionable prose accompanying the current campaign. Anyway, behold:

Real’s populist/“plain folks” approach seems to have resonated with the masses, who heaped plaudits on sal23 (“with the their/there/they’re shitty grammar and all”) to the point that he is no doubt entertaining offers from Leo Burnett, among others.

Z-mogul Stacy Peralta had less luck with his recent “Whopper Virgins” ad for BK, in which he served up the sandwich to the citizenry of far-flung zones in Thailand, Greenland and Transylvania as a kind of ultimate taste test against the mighty Big Mac. Or something. If you wanna watch it, here it is:

Peralta wound up getting slagged in the media for exploiting third world residents’ marginal sophistication when it comes to fast foods:
-“Outrageous” declared Sharon Akabas of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University
-“Insensitive” stated Marilyn Borchardt, development director for Food First

More distressing, Peralta came in for even more flame-broiled criticism from online comment forums:
-“The most nauseating, soul-destroying bit of corporate propaganda that I’ve seen in a long time” lamented one anonymous poster.

Of course the King of all Burgers and his court may have meant to stir the coals a bit with the ad, working people into a tizzy before coming back to sweep viewers off their feet with the scent of roasted beef. Hopefully Peralta fares better with his new documentary on the Sharks’n’Jets, where he may be playing for significantly higher stakes.