Comments on: Douglas Coupland and the Blackberry Pearl

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By: Jessa

Jessa — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:22:34 +0000

"This Fall I did a promotion for the Blackberry Pearl. Some people think this was weird but I don't. My fee was a terrific way to raise money for the Contemporary Art Gallery in downtown Vancouver. In a similar vein I did an ad for Absolut quite a few years back. People can forget that as a writer your ways of fundraising for charity are extremely limited. Painters can donate paintings to auctions but writers? Donating books is one option, but it won't raise much. To raise a meaningful sum I think you really have to put yourself out there." Douglas Coupland

By: tinsley

tinsley — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 02:11:21 +0000

Just saw the Douglas blackberry disappointment. My heart just barfed. Its the same betrayal as Alan Cross doing those Apple ads. For me it works the opposite of the company's goal. The spokesperson and the product both go down in my ratings. I'm wondering if, like the vodka ad, he has gone and done this to benefit a charity….

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By: Hannah

Hannah — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:10:46 +0000

Everyone has their price, I suppose. But as a GenXer, it disappoints me, though it's hardly surprising. I'm expecting to see Ralph Nader pitching Shell Oil or McDonald's any day now.

By: Steve Portigal

Steve Portigal — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 01:05:05 +0000

It's refreshing to see people view things even more black and white than I think I do.

Devo is playing casinos. Do you weep? Or do you laugh because you enjoy the irony? Or post-irony? Or post-modernism? http://www.portigal.com/blog/are-we-not-men-what-a-drag-it-isnt-getting-old/

Your mileage may vary. Well, clearly it does.

Itchy and Scratchy are ABSOLUTELY mainstream to Coupland's audience. Knowing, sly, sub-referencing, alienated, bemused.

The fact that I didn't have to asy "the animated TV cartoon characters who fight and bite (and fight and bite) on Fox's The Simpsons" proves they are mainstream. Mainstream enough for what I'm getting at.

I will say that I wouldn't read Coupland's last book because he put himself in as a character, and that's usually the cue for "out of ideas" (cf: Heinlein, Steven King....) but it does fit this discussion of pop culture icons and brands (including unfortunately himself) as content for Coupland's universe, observation, comedy, commentary.

By: Candy Minx

Candy Minx — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:44:25 +0000

Douglas Coupland doing commercials is like Nirvana doing an Unplugged and William Burroughs doing a Nike ad. Oh right. I forgot the apocalypse happened already.
Do you think I will ever beat Guy Kawasaki to the Technorati top ten?

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:11:44 +0000

Steve, Itchy and Scratchy are not mainstream. Ditto, the Grateful Dead. The book about Microsoft was a condemnation of same. To say that Coupland references popular culture does not qualify him to participate as a celebrity endorser. Indeed, the way he references popular culture should disqualify him. Zeppelin! Since when did they take an anti-commercial stand. Thanks, Grant

By: Steve Portigal

Steve Portigal — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:01:53 +0000

Oh, right, it's impossible to imagine Coupland being connected to any pop-culture defining brands!??!!! Look at the body of work. This is a guy who read an Itchy and Scratchy transcript in a public reading in San Jose. Who wrote a book about Microsoft. Another book that references iPod in the title. Wrote another that references the Grateful Dead in the title. He curated (my verb, since they are more collections than literary works) two books about the product icons that define a certain era in Canadian life.

I can't imagine anyone who fits better.

And even if you don't agree with the amazing fit I propose, we should all have been over this a long time ago, perhaps when Zeppelin sold their songs to a car company (or any other sell-out moment you like).