Beyond Urban Branding

Pharell Williams created a storm of controversy. I mean a few hours into the Grammy's it had its own Twitter account. While, I thought some of the ribbing was cute on the surface, what almost the entire planet missed was that his hat, was originally sported by Malcolm McLaren. Malcolm McLaren was an innovator of fashion, hip-hop and punk rock. EXHIBIT A: VIDEO WHERE MALCOLM ROCKS THE SAME HAT: BUFFALO GALS  Malcolm McLaren really touched my life. His album with the World Famous Supreme Team changed my life. Almost as much as Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. It was more than Hip-Hop, it was defiantly African and, Latin and even a little rock and country. When I was invited to be part of the book The Boombox Project , part of my hope was that I could share Malcolm McLarens impact on my life directly to him. Sadly he passed before the book was released. Much respect to Pharell.

Latinas in ads have been really exploding. Here are a few...I will post more soon...But Eva Mendez, J-Lo and Sofia Vergara are doing it BIG in the game right now...I don't see this trend stopping any time soon.... Mendes and Pantene J-lo and Fiat Vergara and K-Mart

So fun, so well done. It makes me totally forgive that horrific "graffiti" campaign they did in their store...anybody remember that....? Ugly stenciled shirts with almost no real graff? Man, this is a huge leap forward for them. Plus I used to have a crush on the lady leading the class.....mmm-hmmmm...

It was 1985. Most people did not even recognize rap as an art. Nevertheless, Gucci was getting branding via rapper Schoolly D. You may not know this song. But every person who knows Hip-Hop history knows this song, had this song and wanted a Gucci watch because of it. Schoolly D also did the college campus cult classic intro for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Cartoon Network. Gotta love Schoolly School!!! It pays to use old school raps and rappers in new school branding.