Well, well, well, looks like American Eagle has discovered the power of enticing consumers with "their own personalized identities" through the selection of various things you can put on this hoodie!
I know product personalization in not exactly a new concept, but I thought I'd share because this message mysteriously appeared in my pomona inbox (when I have no idea how AE got my email) as a seeming sign from the new media gods telling me to propagate their favorite principle of selection amongst the other peons. I think if I really want to be, like, an individual and stuff and display it to the world, I must buy this in pink with a large size eagle on it and my favorite number, 18.
principles of new media have infiltrated my fashion
By jughead - Posted on 28 September 2007 - 2:41pm.
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i know i'm making fun of this now, but a part of me can't help thinking everything is just a selection of what we're offered. specialization is the most efficient, right?
Even in the absence of media, all we can do is select from a set of choices. I look at this cloud or that one; I smell this flower or that one; I feel this tree or that one. This, I think, does not take away how unnerving that AE advertisement is, and I can't really figure out why.
This whole issue of "choice" seems to run through all the stuff we're reading. Landow writes, "the multiplicity of hypertext...calls for an active reader." Does choosing among pre-determined options really make you an active reader? Does choosing among pre-determined colors really make you an active consumer?