A couple of days ago a dramatic ad for Calvin Klein men's underwear appeared on the side of the once venerable Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Central Hong Kong. The Ritz is closing and is scheduled to be torn down soon, a victim of the ever-increasing property values on Hong Kong Island. In its place will rise yet another office building, all set to make millions upon millions in leases and rentals for its new owner.
In the meantime, the Ritz has become a giant billboard. This ad is huge. Is it art? Is it sex? (well YEAH...) Is it profitable...makes ME want to go out and buy some underwear, or something.
Its hard to describe just how eye-catching this ad is. When I come down the hill, on the apartment shuttle, or in a taxi, this ad comes into view just before you get down into Central. There's no warning, nothing like watching it (him?) approach in the distance. The road goes around a curve and BOOM there he is, taking up part of the skyline and looking well, sublime.
Apparently this ad is also playing in Times Square in New York. I actually found an article about it in the NYtimes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E6DA1439F936A35756C0A96095...
In order to try to take this picture I ended up getting more of a workout than I intended. I couldn't remember where exactly it came into view. I thought I had to be higher up on the mountain, so I trudged upwards, periodically turning around to see if I could see it - until I realized that I was going the wrong direction. So then I had to head DOWN the mountain. It turns out you can't see it until you are almost in Central.
I wonder if this ad is playing in other cities as well....are millions of women and gay men running out and buying Calvin Klein underwear left and right all over the world? I'd like to see their sales figures for the month of March!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment