Gawker: Fake things

LonelyGirl15, Her Advertisers, And Investors Form 'The Resistance'

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:34:48 EDT

Remember LonelyGirl15, that fake-ass scripted YouTube series that got really popular for a minute when everybody thought it was real and turned into a media phenomenon? Well it's coming back in a major way! Which means its rabid fans are still lurking out there, and have been doing who knows what for the last several weeks waiting for this. "LG15: The Resistance" (*chuckle*) will debut 12 new weekly episodes next month, produced by a CBS-funded firm and "integrated" with advertisements. Resist, yes. The show's promo—a total ripoff of those 'Anonymous' anti-scientology vids—after the jump.

[via Agency Spy]

Dove's 'Real' Women: Fakes?

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:46:25 EDT

You know that Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty," which featured women slightly less skeletal than the average model, and therefore demonstrated that Dove is the greatest, most big-hearted company ever in the world? Well now there's a scandal about it! A new New Yorker story about Pascal Dangin, the world's "premier retoucher of fashion photographs," contains this tidbit on Dove's campaign, which ostensibly celebrates authentic, unadulterated womanhood:

"It is known that everybody does it, but they protest," Dangin said recently. "The people who complain about retouching are the first to say, 'Get this thing off my arm.' " I mentioned the Dove ad campaign that proudly featured lumpier-than-usual "real women" in their undergarments. It turned out that it was a Dangin job. "Do you know how much retouching was on that?" he asked. "But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive."

Why, that would make Dove a bunch of rank hypocrites! A spokeswoman for Dove's ad agency tells Ad Age that "We are unsure right now what he did," and adds:

"There was no retouching of the women," she said. "If there was a hair that was up in the air, that might have been the kind of retouching that was done. But until I know what he actually worked on, I can't comment on it."

If only for the excessive amount of self-righteousness that accompanied the PR effort surrounding this ad campaign, let's sincerely hope these retouching allegations are true.

Tina Fey's "Fecalist"

Richard — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:32:00 EDT

Like the Rupert Murdoch spoof video before it, this Marie Claire/"Tina Fey has a 'fecalist'" video is pretty well done. That is actually Joanna Coles, the magazine's editor, acting astonished that the funny lady and hero to many would demand that the magazine spring for the $720 to have a guy sift through Tina Fey's poop. The shaky camera work and Coles' natural delivery make you almost think it might be real, until you remember that there's no such thing as a fecalist. Apparently Fey makes a joke about such a specialist in her Marie Claire cover story interview, so I guess this is some kind of elaborate promotional thing. It's fun that Coles was game enough to play along. Maybe she looked at Lisa Love, the LA editor of Teen Vogue who appeared on The Hills quite often, and got jealous. Screen time, viral or whatever else, means you're hip! Appearing on camera is the new editing a magazine!

Fake Vintage Ads: Viagra From The Past

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:32:48 EDT

Everybody loves vintage ads, because they're all old and weird-looking with funny language and whatnot. The drawback is, you can never buy the products in them. Well now that problem has been solved! Spooftastic Photoshop wizardry website Worth1000 sponsored a contest for fake vintage ads of current products. In a servicey move, we've culled the entire list down to the five best: Girls Gone Wild, Jagermeister, cell phones, Viagra, and laser hair removal—in the old school style—after the jump.