All Potential Carriers

Kenneth Cole is one of the main brands to have taken social cause advertising to another level. During the past few decades Cole's campaigns have touched themes of discrimination, gay rights, homelessness, gun safety, AIDS, current events, among others. In these 2005 ads, we see a unique approach to fight the discrimination against the disease. AIDS is one of the causes that Kenneth Cole has most supported, being one of the pioneers in raising awareness to the disease even when the first cases were still being explored. It is no surprise that Kenneth has been serving as a Board Member of the American Foundation for AIDS Research since 1985 and is now the Vice Chairman and Director of Creative Service for amfAR.

The goal behind these ads goes beyond promoting safe sex and getting tested, it touches on our compassionate side to not discriminate and realize this is not an individual's fight, but a social battle. Carriers of the disease have it hard enough without being discriminated and the first ad addresses just that. The copy says "We All Have AIDS, If One of Us Does" and in the fine print, they introduce a team of AIDS activists who raise awareness to the disease and fight the negative association to the disease. Along with this ad, Kenneth Cole also made two T-shirts that were available for sale, one with that exact same slogan "We All Have AIDS" and another with a slogan of "I Have AIDS". The idea with selling these shirts was the same as the concept of the ad, to fight the stigma that the disease only affects the people with the virus. Unfortunately, not a lot of people wore the "I Have AIDS" T-shirt, but the "We All Have AIDS" t-shirt was more widely accepted. In this New York Times article, we can see Kenneth Cole's hopes and disappointments with the campaign he created for a cause he is so passionate about.

From Kenneth Cole, a New Solidarity

By ERIC WILSON

Published: December 1, 2005

KENNETH COLE, who sometimes pushes the boundaries of good taste in his pun-laden, socially conscious advertising, will introduce a public service campaign tied to World AIDS Day today. It is one he anticipates will elicit more attention, and probably controversy, than any of his prior statements.

Stefanie Keenan

The actress Mena Suvari in a Kenneth Cole T-shirt.

The message of Mr. Cole's latest campaign, emblazoned on $35 T-shirts, which will benefit AIDS charities and will be carried at Barneys New York, Scoop, Louis Boston and other stores, is "We All Have AIDS." Some of the T-shirts are more provocative, stating bluntly, "I Have AIDS."

Mr. Cole said he hopes people, infected or not, will wear them as a gesture to diminish the stigma associated with the disease by subverting the notion that AIDS affects only those infected with the H.I.V. virus.

"There is a legend of the Danish king, Christian X, who, during World War II, when Hitler insisted all Jews publicly wear a yellow Star of David, would wear the star himself, hence making it difficult to differentiate who was Jewish," Mr. Cole said in an interview. "This is kind of like that, hopefully."
Some people might be shocked, he said, but he did not expect serious objections. "It's very hard to argue against the message that we all have AIDS," Mr. Cole said. "It's not hard to make the case that we all have been affected, both culturally and spiritually."

In a series of images put together over the last year Mr. Cole assembled a roster of celebrities, including Julianne Moore, Natasha Richardson and Richard Gere, who were photographed either barefoot, recalling Mr. Cole's AIDS awareness campaign of 1985, which included similarly posed supermodels, or wearing one of the shirts. But none of those who participated, with the exception of Zackie Achmat, a South African activist who has AIDS, would wear the first-person version.

"People were not jumping at it, which speaks to the stigma of AIDS," said Mr. Cole, who is also chairman of Amfar, the foundation for AIDS research. "Even in this country, where we think we are beyond this, I ask the question, 'Are we really?' "


Dressing the Thin Man
Three years ago Joseph Reid, who worked various jobs in theater management and public relations, met Chad Vo, a fashion designer, at a downtown club called Happy Ending, and discovered among their mutual interests an effusive love of shopping, and frustration that most stores did not carry their sizes or clothes that were sufficiently directional. These are men for whom the label Dsquared, which promotes revealing muscle T-shirts and men's bikinis, is considered conservative.

"And we were tired of seeing the same lines in Barneys, Jeffrey and everywhere else," Mr. Reid recalled.
Mr. Reid, 31, and Mr. Vo, 29, decided to go into business together and plan to open a store called Behaviour today at 231 West 19th Street. It will cater to a customer they describe as the "petite male," and by that they mean slim.
"We are in the heart of Chelsea, so this is for the body-conscious," Mr. Reid said, pointing to the stereotypical residents of that neighborhood. "We're stocking a lot of small and medium sizes and labels that are really hard to find."

Behaviour will carry several labels that will be new to New York customers, including Unconditional from London, a favorite of David Beckham, and Franklin Marshall from Italy. They also expect to carry a collection called Company of Unorganized People and other nonmainstream labels like Rice and Beans, Topless California, King Baby Studio and Green Apple Tree, mixed with a selection of their own vintage Gucci finds and Hermès ashtrays.
"We're looking for clothes with more personality," Mr. Reid said. "If it's been in a Black Eyed Peas song, we are not going to carry it."


Link to article

Link to background information