Fast fashion, a singular slab, and Frank Sinatra
Shein profits from the "reality-reactance" gap...
In the previous issue of Discomfort Zone, I contrasted Canada Goose’s new trade-in program with Shein, the $100-billion Chinese fast fashion company that has been in the news this year for fake influencer reviews and labour malpractice. And now these two very different brands are actively courting the Canadian market from different ends of the circular economy spectrum.
In the fall of 2022 Shein opened a Canadian shipping warehouse in Markham, Ontario, and this year has boosted its offline presence with pop-up stores in Toronto and suburban Montreal.
The brand is so strong among its Gen Z female target market that customers actually paid $5 for tickets and queued for hours to enter the pop-up experiences where goods weren’t even available for sale. One shopper at the Quebec store told broadcaster CTV that she felt a bit guilty about underpaid workers in China, but wished that local retailers would also offer cheap clothing options.
It’s easy to criticize Shein for environmental reasons, but is it really this young Quebec shopper’s fault that she doesn’t appreciate the tangled web of economic currents that drive online retail, global trade and market capture? Her struggle to make ethics jibe with ego is definitely symptomatic of a growing trend among people I’ve discussed these issues with. In a word, this trend is: Reactance.
The phenomenon of Reactance was first proposed by psychologist Jack Brehm in 1966 and explored in a retail consumer context around twenty years ago by business professors Gavan Fitzsimons and Donald Lehmann in the Marketing Science journal. Reactance is a mental backlash against unsolicited advice. It leads to doubling down on current opinions or even doing the opposite of what you originally wanted.
Of course the real solution to the intersecting issues of reduced spending power, global heating and underpaid workers is participation in the circular economy. Whether it’s through thrift stores, repurposed second-hand clothing, trade-ins or good old-fashioned darning and patching up old clothes… it’s all good.
If I could wave my magic marketing wand I’d look for a way to provoke reactance against fast fashion. I’d use the old reverse psychology trick that savvy parents know so well: “Go ahead, kids: spend as much of your money on cheap crap as possible!”
My piece in Strategy magazine goes more in-depth by examining how Shein and home-grown brand Canada Goose are actively courting the Canadian market from opposite ends of the eco-conscious spectrum.
Copyright and Copywrong
Last Friday a US federal court judge delivered a ruling which confirmed that most works generated solely by AI do not receive protection under American copyright laws. The timing of the judgment is especially pertinent in the context of the WGA walkout because screenwriters feared that studios would start producing AI-generated scripts while they are on strike.
The other side of the AI/copyright coin is that the systems themselves, whether for text or image production, are trained on copyrighted works. Expect to see a slew of court cases brought by artists and writers, such as this class action suit by a group of three illustrators, or for settlements to be reached out of court.
All Fun and Games Until…
Hosting a global sporting event is an opportunity to boost the host’s brand equity. But recent events are putting that equation into question. Last weekend it was announced that the Australian state of Victoria will pay a penalty of $243 million to Commonwealth Games organizers after it withdrew as host of the 2026 event due to ballooning costs. Victoria had initially stepped in when hosting bids from Kuala Lumpur, Cardiff, Calgary, Edmonton and Adelaide were all withdrawn due to budgetary concerns. This follows on the heels of a similar situation with the 2023 Jeux de la Francophonie, which was ultimately hosted by Kinshasa after the New Brunswick provincial government in Canada cancelled its financial commitment, citing funding issues. The Olympic Games are also renowned for cost overruns, with next year’s event in Paris the subject of heated discussions over its ever-expanding budget. Will financial missteps end up having a negative impact on the brands of those cities and regions?
Arabian peninsula states are currently making the biggest waves in the intersection between sports and place branding, with Saudi Arabia recent acquisitions in international golf and the English Premier League, and Qatar contentiously hosting last winter’s soccer World Cup. Many observers equate these investments with sportswashing, an effort to improve the perception of regimes with sullied reputations. Branding is certainly a tool that governments use to gain political clout. One thing is for sure: when it comes to sports and place branding, having the deepest pockets seems to be the only way to score a winning goal.
Syncopating Incubation
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan penned a blog post this week to unveil the company’s AI music incubator. The initiative kicks off with a partnership with Universal Music Group and industry luminaries from across the popular music ecosystem, from Brazilian pop star Anitta to rapper Yo Gotti, and from ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus to the estate of Frank Sinatra! The announcement is light on details, but heavy on principles, stating: “As generative AI unlocks ambitious new forms of creativity, YouTube and our partners across the music industry agree to build on our long collaborative history and responsibly embrace this rapidly advancing field. Our goal is to partner with the music industry to empower creativity in a way that enhances our joint pursuit of responsible innovation.” Mohan promises that AI will usher in a new age of creative expression. He then adds the caveat that protections must be in place for music partners who decide to participate in the incubator, as well as mentioning the need to scale up YouTube’s existing trust and safety features. As noted in the news item above about copyright, it remains to be seen whether AI and creative industries can find a mutually beneficial legal and financial sandbox to play together nicely in. As for the wider music business, the behemoth that is Spotify has just raised its monthly subscription fee as it attempts to strike a fair balance between corporate profits and royalties for artists and publishers.
Rosella Tursi, TV, film and video editor
Q: Since you began your career, you’ve seen the rise of the internet and an explosion of social media. Has our 21st-century reality changed anything about how you view your work?
A: I really see the explosion of the internet and social media as two forces that have democratized editing in a radical way. When I was younger, the only way I could practice editing was to have access to spaces, either at work or school, where there was incredibly expensive equipment. Now, anyone can edit on their computer, iPad or smartphone. But I really see social media as a different medium.
For me, editing is all about storytelling. As a documentary editor, I need to carve out the story that lives inside all the footage I’m given to work with. The film or TV editor’s greatest skill is not in mastering the tools, it’s in how an editor can make someone feel as they watch what is unfolding on the screen. Social media speaks to its audience in very short bursts and is a different mode of storytelling. Documentaries are all about developing an idea in depth, teaching the audience something they don’t know, or shining a light on something that needs to be exposed.
That said, I do love that people who are interested in editing have access to ways in which they can hone their editing skills. Most of us are walking around with a camera and editing apps right in our pockets. And I love to see what the younger generation is up to. I love hearing what they have to say. I’m definitely not one of those purists who scoffs at anything other than highbrow cinema. I would compare what the internet and social media did to filmmaking as to what graffiti and street art did to the fine art world. The two influenced each other. That’s not to say that there’s no downside to social media, of course, but that's a whole other conversation. Strictly from a creative point of view, I love that filmmaking and editing is so accessible today.
Rosella Tursi is a New York-based editor whose recent credits include the critically-acclaimed HBO documentary series Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York. Over the course of her career, Rosella has cut everything from independent documentaries to criminal justice documentaries, narrative and unscripted television series, videos and dramatic shorts. Her work has been broadcast and streamed internationally by HBO, Netflix, Showtime, Viceland, FX, PBS, CBC, and screened at Hot Docs, Tribeca, Middleburg, Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and others. Rosella is currently editing a Showtime series and shooting a short film with her wife, writer Christine Champagne.
A Line in the Sand
There’s a good chance you saw last summer’s hype when Saudi Arabia revealed its designs for a horizontal, self-contained “cognitive city” in the desert called The Line. This ambitious project is a 170 kilometer-long mirrored slab that is 500 meters high but only 200 meters wide.
The Line is one of four regions in the Neom community, which its backers in Riyadh hope will become “the land of the future, where the greatest minds and best talents are empowered to embody pioneering ideas and exceed boundaries in a world inspired by imagination.”
The official Neom website claims that The Line will have no roads, cars or emissions, and will run on 100% renewable energy, with 95% of land preserved for nature. With untested urban planning features, unknown environmental phenomena, and an anticipated population of 9 million, will The Line be a practical impossibility? Some experts certainly have doubts about its sustainability and liveability claims. One the plus side, if The Line does come to fruition as proposed, it may open the door to a new era of eco-friendly planned cities.
Interestingly, given that The Line’s architects are human beings, some architectural firms are now using AI tools to design buildings that are quite frankly far more organic in form. Chinese firm XKool has just released the English version of its powerful design platform, LookX, but there are concerns that architects who use these tools may find themselves exposed to copyright infringement claims.
And if neither the idea of living in The Line or an AI-designed building appeals to you, you can always go live in the metaverse.
Apple’s VP of human interface design, Alan Dye, recently talked to Debbie Millman in her Design Matters podcast about working on innovative tech products like the Apple watch and the new Vision Pro headset. Dye joined Apple after stints with Ogilvy’s Brand Integration Group and Kate Spade. In the interview, you’ll hear him discuss his career path and his perspective on UX, teamwork and, of course, design.
Sometimes I write about other stuff! Check out my recently published article Lions and Unicorns about role models for today’s young men. The essay covers a lot of ground from Tom Cruise to Vladimir Putin, from Steve Jobs to Queen Elizabeth, and from Jesus to Harry Styles.
Please let me know what you think about Discomfort Zone by commenting directly in the online version of the newsletter, or by emailing me at john@johnbdutton.com.
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