First, Bol airs his objections to "the fact that mofos are walking around wearing purses and tight-ass pants showing off their nuts." Well let's be honest, who wants to see the nuts of others, unsolicited? Then he critiques this story in the Voice about a Brooklyn rap crew and its anti-tight clothes anthem:

Of course, with it being the gay-ass Village Voice, these guys are painted as virulent homophobes and failed no-talents trying to capitalize off a gimmick.

Well sure. His proposed savior of hip hop? This guy below, whose video is an ode to smashing tight-be-pantsed rap kids with bats. I find hipster hop as annoying as anyone, but this is really not the solution. Where's the love here, Bol? NO HOMO:

After the first guy jumped into his jeans, I realized what the whole video would be: a shot-for-shot rehash of a viral ad for Ray-Ban. The two ads are so similar that the creators (unless they're phenomenally short-sighted) clearly wanted to be discovered. First, let's look at the two ads:

Levi's, 5 May 2008: Guys do backflips, swinging jumps, and other stunts and land in their pants.

Ray-Ban, 6 May 2007: A guy catches sunglasses on his face in increasingly impossible maneuvers: Off a house, off a bridge, in a moving car.

Similarities
The stories are the same: A simple trick to establish what we're watching. Then increasingly elaborate iterations, culminating in a stunt so dramatic that it requires a slow-motion replay.

The music is the same: A cool innocuous background beat loosely timed to the action.

The editing is the same: Quick pacing. Slick with dramatic angles, but calculatedly rugged with lingering shots on the guys congratulating each other.

The packaging is the same: Ray-Ban's ad was posted by "neverhidefilms," a YouTube user with no previous videos. The new Levi's ad comes from "unbuttonedfilms," another first-time user. The new ad is one day shy of coming a year after the old ad. The titles are analagous: "Guy catches glasses with face" versus "Guys backflip into jeans." No product is mentioned.

Background
While Ray-Ban's ad was launched anonymously, the creative team behind it soon came forward. Josh Warner, president of The Feed Company, explained how he promoted this viral video to Adweek. The team posted more videos, now more obviously advertising Ray-Ban though still without using a traditional ad format, to the YouTube account that hosted the original viral ad.

Extra evidence
Note the line at 0:36 of the Levi's ad: "At least there's no zipper." That's what clinched it for me: Levi's is the only jeans brand to actively advertise its zipperless buttoned jeans. The user name "unbuttonedfilms" corroborates this.

How well it's worked
Blogs like Laughing Squid and Neatorama posted the video with no guess about the creators (though political blog Hot Air guessed this might be a Levi's ad). Even G4TV's Attack Of The Show discussed the ad, crediting it to an unnamed group of gymnasts and making no mention of Levi's.

And of course even this debunking is giving them publicity. (Not that I mind as long as I'm getting some too.)

My Theory
Obviously the new ad has the same goals as the old: to market a product without actually naming it, by appealing to the public's love of Internet stunt videos. Most likely, The Feed Company made the new Levi's ad. If any other agency was ripping them off, they wouldn't release the ad a year later with the exact same techniques. And in a few days, The Feed Company will come out, because who can really deny themselves another round of publicity?

From: Dylan Stableford
Date: Aug 2, 2007 12:52 PM
Subject: mediabistro.com ruined my sex life

* Actually, not at all. Just wanted to get y'all to read this. *

A month or so ago (i.e. before the phrase "twenty-three-million" became synonymous with mediabistro) I was approached by my former company, Red 7 Media, with a great offer. I've decided to take it. I gave notice to Laurel a couple weeks ago, but was under strict orders not to say anything until after the sale/TVNewser party hangovers were sufficiently medicated.

I want you all to know that it was truly a tough decision because I love working with everyone here, and I think it's an exciting time for mb. But there's a lot of stuff I have been putting off — a music site that's gonna put Billboard to shame, a book proposal about (my nemesis) John Cusack, a non-profit skateboard project, etc. — and normal guy stuff (dog, mojitos, uneven tan) which I really don't want to put off any longer. Moreover, I'm really proud of what we've accomplished in the year-and-change I've been
here (more than doubled traffic across all of our blogs, broken some big media stories, infuriated a CEO in his townhouse) and for the most part accomplished what I had really set out to do: carve out a place for mediabistro in the national media conversation. I can only imagine the upward spiral's gonna continue.

I want to thank Laurel, Kyle, Omer — and Taffy, who let me teach humor writing classes on little more than a hunch; Carmen thereafter — for giving me the opportunity.

My last day in the office is Friday, but I am going to continue to work closely with Chris, Rebecca, Noah and the bloggers in the short-term, and will contribute to the site and blogs as (hopefully) a regular contributor.

You can always reach me at the following coordinates. Use them often:

Dylan Stableford
[address, email redacted]

p.s. I would rather not accept parting gifts, but if you must, high-end tequila never hurt anybody.

"I'm not supposed to drink, due to mental problems and mild liver problems, but I immediately take a sip, like a willing Jonestown suicide," writes Jonathan. Whoa, dude!

Those of us who've been Ames devotees have kept track of the ups and downs of his incompetent drinking career. Apparently this is suddenly a DOWN moment for his issues with his self-confessed dipsomania.

Then he and Manson and Rachel Evan Evan Rachel Evan Wood (she crazy) and Fiona Apple (uh, of course!) go out drinking. Then Ames and Manson go in the bathroom and do some coke. The next day, Manson's all, dude, I couldn't keep up with you! Uh, neither can we. What up, Jonathan?

Also, according to Jonathan's Spin bio, "His graphic novel, The Alcoholic, will be out next year." It sure will.

June 5, 2007: Kathryn Typaldos has been named fashion assistant at W. (FWD)
June 5, 2007: Joseph Berean has been named fashion market and accessories director at Elle.com. He had been market director at Nylon. (FWD)
June 5, 2007: Eviana Hartman has will freelance. She had been fashion news editor at Nylon. (FWD)
June 5, 2007: Whitney McNally Vargas has been named senior fashion news editor at Elle. She had been senior editor at W. (FWD)
June 5, 2007: Jenny Feldman has been named fashion news director at Nylon. She had been senior fashion news editor at Elle. (FWD)

Laliberte's Lodgings Looted [NYO]
[Photo: Patrick McMullan]

The name is Choire—it's a boy name, it's pronounced "Cory"—and I like rich people, Cat Fancy magazine, and fratty i-bankers with thick necks. My biggest dislikes are tooth extractions and people who "enjoy" living in Brooklyn. If you enjoy it so much, why are you here in Manhattan telling me about it?

Beginning on Monday, I'll be managing this here piece of the internet.

The most important thing is that you know that my email inbox is your playground.

Men lose all inhibition when confronted by a woman in panties."You making a porno?" one queried. "Cause I'd like to make a porno with you." Another proposed marriage and still another proposed a sexual act that we can't write about in a family newspaper. Several dudes offered to buy me some beers across the street in Penn Station.

I don't mean to steal the thunder of the girl whose entire subsequent life was destroyed by one comment on her (obviously questionable) pants, but: I also used to be Alex K.'s intern at the Observer. And she was never, for one second, bitchy. In fact, I thought she was nothing but fabulous and encouraging. She encouraged me to contribute to her column, and gave me some books and Hard Candy eyeshadow she had received (it was a big brand at the time) and took me shoe shopping with her on a slow day. And yes, while at the shoe store I uttered the inane phrase "black goes with everything!" and no, she didn't laugh — even though I probably would now. So, you know: perspective.

Earlier: Alex Kuczynski's Bitchery Has Long, Storied Past

Isn't Anyone In This Town Wearing Pants? [NYT]

Lachlan Murdoch is "very happy" living in Australia, his wife Sarah has said, downplaying her father-in-law Rupert Murdoch's suggestion that his eldest son might rejoin the executive ranks of News Corporation.

She told the Australian, a News Corp-owned newspaper: "Both of us are very happy in Australia and our children are very happy here. It's a wonderful place to live, we pinch ourselves every day."

You pinch, we cut.

Lachlan Murdoch Happy in Australia, Says Wife [Media Guardian]
Earlier: Lachlan Has Not Forsaken Us!

Rupert Murdoch has raised the possibility of his eldest son, Lachlan, returning to a senior position in News Corporation.

"Lachlan might come back," he said.

And as a thousand doves are released against the deep blue sky and the chorus begins to sing, ladies/gays everywhere touch themselves.

Lachlan May Return to the Fold, Says Murdoch Sr [Media Guardian]

So! These are my last two weeks at Gawker, and I'd rather not get reflective and emotional just yet (and seriously, why the hell am I so emotional?! I'm exhausted — move on, lady!), as I still have to get up at some ungodly hour and help you procrastinate for a little while longer. After I'm done here, I'll be heading over to Vanity Fair, where I'll be their deputy online editor. While it's actually quite hard to say goodbye to this job (crap, am I being sincere already?), I can't pass up the opportunity to do all sorts of inappropriate things to the Conde Nast salad bar when no one's looking.

As for my replacement: we've got no freaking clue. If you're interested in sacrificing your personal life and identity, changing your last name to Gawker (do any of you know my surname is actually Coen?), and joining the insolent cause, do email Gawker Media whipping boy Lockhart Steele at lock@gawker.com — he's rabidly heterosexual and looking forward to your headshots.
- Jessica