The Hipster Must Die... Smoking These Williamsburg Cigs

Camel promo with hipster Joe Camel added

The Camel advertising team has clearly been watching a lot of Mad Men, and is trying so hard (too hard? not hard enough?) to get that thing that Don Draper has. This is actual real-life ad copy for the Williamsburg brand cigarette the company has put out (oh and by the way, there is a Williamsburg brand cigarette, more on that in a sec—first, here's what it's about): “It’s about last call, a sloppy kiss goodbye and a solo saunter to a rock show in an abandoned building... It’s where a tree grows.” As the hipster forefathers would say: alluding to trees growing in Brooklyn is so over.

So, yes, as the Brooklyn Paper reports, R.J. Reynolds has launched a “Williamsburg” version of Camel smokes as part of some sort of promotion featuring 10 cool neighborhoods in the U.S. The Brooklyn box shows the Domino Sugar Factory and the Williamsburg Bridge—where hip pioneers once created a new underground scene, probably whilst puffing away on, well, American Spirits or Parliaments. But Camel is "cool" too, you guys—the company promises you'll earn some "serious street cred" if you smoke these cigarettes, and that Williamsburg's "artistic approach to life meshes with the Camel brand.” Finally, someone gets you. Or as Don Draper would say: "whatever you're doing, it's okay. You are okay."

Hipster: Camel is just waiting to give you a warm hug after a long decade of irony in your now post-ironic neighborhood. It'll only cost you a lung and $12.50 a pack. Hmm, maybe they want you to die.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on November 11, 2010 12:07 PM

Comments [rss]

Jan-Luc Van Damme

Don't knock it if you can't afford it. Smoke Bushwick Kools instead.

BigUps

I see Joe camel is also trying to exterminate the Hipster.

roger_sterling

don is a lucky strike man himself.

Jason

Camel Hopes to Spread the Hipster Cancer with Williamsburg-brand Cigarettes.

'Irony is Bliss- Have a Camel today.'

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/11/camel-hopes-to-spread-the-hipster-cancer-with-williamsburg-brand-cigarettes/

Cannibal

I smoke camel lights or blue or whatever. I will end up buying these. Sigh.

Alec

Did anybody this part of the actual article

"But there’s nothing local about this promotional effort. As part of the 10-week “Camel Break Free” promotion, cigarette boxes of Camel Blues, formerly Camel Lights, have been redesigned to feature 10 “cool” places throughout the country such as Seattle, the Haight and Austin, Tex."

People seem to jump to conclusions. This is not a brooklyn ad campaign, nor is it singling out brooklyn. There are 9 other cities, not just the hipster center.

Cannibal

9 other hipster centers!!! its a conspiracy dammit!!

jaycjay

"As the hipster forefathers would say: alluding to trees growing in Brooklyn is so over."

Your hipster forefathers also didn't know what allude means?

That line directly references a tree growing in Brooklyn. Therefore, it's not an allusion to trees growing in Brooklyn, as it would be if it invoked that image without directly mentioning it.

For an allusion, consider way that direct reference to a tree in Brooklyn alludes to the Betty Smith novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, while not directly referencing it.

robingee

Thanks for the primer on word meanings, asshole.

jaycjay

Ha! Thank you for making it all worthwhile.

NlGGAZ

That bicycle looks like it's from 2006. C'mon bullhorns is where it's at.

Cannibal

2006 is the new 1993. You're so July.

Politburo

This is actual real-life ad copy for the Williamsburg brand cigarette the company has put out
No, it's not. You added the Joe Camel biker, as evidenced by the pictures on Brooklyn Paper, Curbed, etc., and the fact that Joe Camel hasn't been used in some 10 years.

Very dangerous, legally, if you ask me.

jaycjay

"Ad copy" refers only to text. Images aren't part of the copy.

Politburo

Pretty weak defense, if it can be called that.

jaycjay

Really? Reading comprehension: it's pretty clear that the word 'this' in that sentence refers to the quoted passage that begins after the colon that follows. That's the way the language works, though I'm as suprised as anyone that I'm saying that about an article on Gothamist.

Politburo

I'm not saying that you're wrong, I'm saying it's not a defense or excuse for Gothamist's actions.

No where is it indicated that the visual is modified from what Camel produced. In the text, it states that "this is the real-life ad [text]", and discusses the "Brooklyn box", which is shown in the picture. Putting all of this together, any reasonable person would assume that the image is an accurate representation of the Camel ad.

The fact that I missed the nuance of the term "ad copy" in my OP doesn't magically make it right. But thanks for the primer on pronouns and colon, asshole.

hotstepper

jesus, what is this nitpicking a-hole day on gothamist?

jaycjay

"The fact that I missed the nuance of the term "ad copy" in my OP doesn't magically make it right."

No, but it makes your declaration "No, it's not" wrong, which was my only point.

"colon, asshole."

HaHA!