They took out a full page in The Washington Post the Sunday before Christmas. 
It's ghetto chic. Very popular around here. Building a brand around being "gritty", which is euphemism for "There's black people all over where we work." Chrysler has the same thing, but at least they aren't a luxury brand. I guess pretty much all ad campaigns seek to exploit someone. I got a bad taste with Shinola in particular, because of their audacity to sell $400 tennis shoes on a block where people starve and freeze routinely. I'm not going to defend myself to vigorously. Not sure my feelings are entirely rational on the issue.
You know what, you can't have your cake and eat it too. How dare Dan Gilbert sell home loans from downtown Detroit when people don't have homes? How dare anyone sell anything in Detroit when so many have so little? As for using Detroit as a brand, I never, ever think of "black people" when people reference the "grit" of Detroit, but I do think of hard working people, black, white, brown etc. As you know, Detroit was once the epicenter of business and culture, I think brands like Shinola are harkening to that. Brands like "Made in Detroit" are "exploiting" the work ethic that was synonymous with pre-labor union craziness Detroit. "Built Ford Tough" is the same way. The city was once known for building the highest quality machines in the world. How dare a brand try to hitch it's wagon to that. Actually, what they're doing is rebuilding that wagon and to be pissed about that is fucked up.
Yes, but I think the unions themselves started getting crazy.
Were you able to abscond any of the riches from that errant abbey? I have had a number of "jobs" over the years leading up to my life in Business Development and it occurs to me that I've never belonged to a union.
Dude, I think you're putting some words in my mouth there. All I said was that their ad campaign was lame, while also saying that I like their products (what I should have said was that I like their watches; their bikes are hella lame). It's a pretty big stretch from there to me being pissed off about anyone making money in Detroit.
their audacity to sell $400 tennis shoes on a block where people starve and freeze routinely
is what I was responding to. Are there restaurants on that street too? Stores that sell blankets? That would be criminal.
Ah. That. I owe you a clarification. Shinola maintains a store in Detroit, but only for cred. They don't intend to make money off it. They make money off selling things in, for example, NYC. Their "flagship" store in midtown detroit exists solely to import celebrities to do photo shoots and other marketing events. It feels like they're making fun of the neighborhood. At least it did in the beginning. I will give them credit that they have recently donated a bunch of money to build a green space near their store. That I applaud.
Well thank you pal, I dig it. As for the ghetto chic, it's a bit derivative don't you think? Did you go white gold or yellow?
Apology accepted. I've worked in Detroit for a decade, and I lived in downtown for 7 of those years. It would be fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with the city. What is offensive about referring to capitalizing on Detroit's downtrodden image as "ghetto chic"?
I feel like it implies that all Detroit is is a ghetto. I've lived in Detroit or in the Metro Detroit area all my life, and I get mad when the conversation can only come back to "Lel Detroit is a warzone." I thought that was what you were doing. Besides, the ad says "This is how you stuff a stocking in Detroit." I didn't (and don't) see how that even goes into exploitation of the poor when all it does is mention Detroit. Then later you mentioned "Ghetto chic," and I lost sight of things for a bit. The answer to your question might just be that I don't see where poverty comes into it.
That specific ad isn't bad. They, in my opinion, have used the decaying image of Detroit to their advantage, and that kind of thing annoys me. How many photographers have made careers out of capturing the "beautiful" ruins of Detroit? Too many. Each of them sucks the soul out of the city just a little bit more. There's a reason that you're not allowed to photograph prisoners of war--it's dehumanizing to exploit tragedy. I'm not against Detroit. I'm for Detroit, and I want to see it and its people treated with dignity. Where in Detroit do/did you live?
I was pretty young when my family moved to where we are now, but I live in Waterford. I can't remember where in the city we were before we moved. And yeah, fuck those guys. They come to Detroit with the same mentality as they go to Brazilian slums or to villages in Africa. Drum up sympathy, but do nothing.
I know nothing of their shtick, I had never seen an advert for them prior to the newspaper ad wasoxygen posted above in the comment. The ref is from the ad on the left of the paper. It's a joke.