triggerhappymedia

Whole Foods grocery stores are not the organic promised land that they claim to be. Last fall’s Swallow It Whole art show examined why not, and why it matters.

Researching the piece I wrote for the exhibition catalog was an eye-opening experience. Here’s an excerpt from “Whole Foods and the Business of Half-Truths”:

“The Whole Foods shopping experience – the hardwood floors and soft lighting, the sterile seafood and meat cases, the linear presentation of both in and out of season fruits and vegetables, the individually wrapped servings priced by weight - hardly imitates how the food is found in nature. Whole Foods customers will only find evidence of the pasture, grove, and sea in pictures (such as the farming landscapes painted on the walls, and the illustrations of green fields and happy animals on the food labels). Nature is dirty and sometimes unpleasant, but the absence of these less appealing qualities lends to the upmarket feel of the store. The use of pictures to represent the real deal also serves as a great distraction- most products sold in Whole Foods are no closer to their original source than those found in conventional supermarkets.

On a national level, Whole Foods cannot rely on small suppliers to meet large-scale demands; they must utilize a contracted workforce, factory farms, processing plants, and fossil fuels for transport. As a result, the conditions that define an organic, local, or environmentally-friendly product are not entirely clear.

What Whole Foods does provide is a distinctive brand to customers who value their philosophy, but do not necessarily question how they pursue it. For this reason, business continues to flourish. And Whole Foods is, above all, just a business.”

Robert Kenner’s upcoming documentary Food, Inc. takes a deeper look.

This is the invitation from Presidential Inaugural Committee.

In the same envelope, an opportunity to buy a $150 woven blanket with the Inaugural Seal.

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Trigger: 5 days to go

It used to be that musicians wanting to spread philanthropic vibes in the name of Africa would gathering together to record timeless classics like 1984’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” That song has stuck around since then (like it or not), as has Bono’s commitment to the cause.

Over 20 years later, “Brooklyn Go Hard” by Jay-Z featuring Santogold is available via the (Red) Wire campaign to eliminate AIDS in Africa. The song is also part soundtrack for Notorious, the upcoming film about B.I.G.

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Trigger: Typographical illustration by Evan Roth

Bush and friends have urged Americans to use this ±$600 boost to go shopping. The reality is that most of us will be putting the money towards the mortgage, credit card debt, or monthly bus passes until we can afford to put gas in the car again.

But instead of spending frivolously, why not make a statement with your dollar bills?

Idea #1: the anti-immigration lawn. Hire this company to do your yard work: White Guys Landscaping. The name says it all- no Mexicans here!

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Trigger: “First stimulus checks arrive - What you need to know“, CNN

Exploring how my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, has changed in the last ten years.

Wide open spaces no more.

No longer satisfied with multi-acre estate homes, the well-off are now actually choosing to live in the mall. Residents of the Waterfront at Scottsdale Fashion Square and Kierland Commons were keen to invest in million-dollar condominiums situated above huge shopping plazas.

The only logical reason for this phenomenon is that the city’s super rich were determined to have both the urban feel of condo-style living and the suburban comfort of having a Gap nearby. When the Arizona Republic asked one young couple why they purchased a Waterfront unit for more than the price of a single-family home, they were sure of their decision: why do we need a sprawling back yard for our daughter to play in when we live just steps away from a toy store?

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Trigger: “Home buyers trade in houses for mall living” by Lisa Nicita

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Trigger: Uninsu(red) by Wendy Dembo
Site: Cool Hunting
Quote: “Last year when the Gap came out with their (red) campaign, the first word that popped into my head, was insu(red)/uninsu(red). They did a few kind of ironic shirts like bo(red) and ti(red), but I wondered why they didn’t make an uninsu(red) shirt.

With insurance looking like it’s going to be the touch point for the 2008 Presidential election, I thought that making these shirts could hopefully get some uninsured kids to think about their need for health insurance, perhaps even the need for universal health care.”

The copy for the latest Louis Vuitton ad reads: A journey brings us face to face with ourselves. Berlin Wall. Returning from a conference. Mikhail Gorbachev and Louis Vuitton are proud to support Green Cross International.

For Louis Vuitton, this campaign is meant to convey the rich heritage of the company. It’s also a bit of green marketing (which is oh so fashionable even if there isn’t a clear connection between the product and green initiatives). Gorbachev is the Chairman of the Board for Green Cross International, an organization comitted to environmental issues.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz captures Gorbachev in what can only be called chic discomfort, and the message is confusing. If the former leader of the Communist Soviet Union has a Louis Vuitton bag, should I want one, too?

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Trigger:”Grobachev Made Me Buy It” by Eric Wilson
Site: NY Times

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Trigger: What the Duck

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Trigger: Ads of the World

Wooster Collective recently posted this photo from the latest Diesel Wall International Art Contest. Winners get their design prominently featured in the center of four major cities: Milan, Copenhagen, Beijing, andToronto.

The artists on the Milan Wall (Fabio La Fauci and Daniele Sigalot) were also showcased in the Street Art Sweet Art exhibition at the PAC museum. At first I thought, very cool that these guys locked down such an amazing spot in the city. The downside- their work is now a marketing tool for the Diesel brand.

But is that such a high price to pay? The website listed in the bottom right corner leads to the Diesel site, but directly to information about the competition.

The requirements state that participants are free to submit any kind of image for consideration. And having such a large space in a major city is a coup for any artist- especially because the sites are all situated in hip, high-traffic areas. It may be a marketing ploy, but it gives artists the opportunity to access to an audience that they might not normally reach.

That said, La Fauci and Sigalot’s Blue and Joy characters are not so underground- they have also been on Adidas shoes and in other corporate-sponsored events. I suppose these artists have found that delicate balance; their pieces can be found both on the street, and at the intersection of art and commerce.

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Trigger: Diesel Wall