Okay. I don't appreciate the assumption that anything that mentions Detroit is appealing to "ghetto chic."
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.