It's Not My Bag...Yet

Living in New York City, I am not a frequent visitor to Target, but I totally “get them.” I love their commercials, which are among the best on the air, but the nearest Target is located way out in Brooklyn (which is a “schlep”--Yiddish for “a drag.”). Target is not adjacent to mass transit, and I am one of those “city kids,” I don’t even have a driver’s license.

Target, like every major retailer, brand and label, advertises heavily in Times Square, where PVC (vinyl) graphics easily rise three to five stories tall by a whole-city-block-wide. These vinyl billboards are bright, colorful and graphic, and add to the energy of the area, which draws tourists from around the country and around the world to one of the most trafficked and visited areas in the world.

But, and it’s a big but, most of these PVC graphics are up for a few weeks and wind up in a landfill for centuries. They are not biodegradable. This turns me and my fellow consumers off…way off. Some companies have cleverly recycled the vinyl billboards and cut them down into tarps to cover dumpsters, so that debris and dust can be contained…that’s clever. Some companies have them cut down into strips (like a giant -size paper shredder) and they are recycled into a kind of insulation for new housing…that’s smart too, except we all know that with the housing market such as it is that there are more billboards going up than new homes being built.

Well, where there is a will there is a way. I'm not sure whose idea it was, but famed womenswear designer and personal champion Anna Sui and Target have partnered in an ingenious campaign to recycle Target’s 42nd Street billboard. When the billboard comes down, it will be rolled up and sent to Anna Sui, who will use the vinyl to create one-of-a-kind tote bags for Target. Okay, I don’t usually carry a tote bag around, and I’ve never had the opportunity to purchase an Anna Sui-designed anything--but Target, if I have to hitchhike all the way to Brooklyn in December in a blizzard, I’m getting one of those bags! If you live in Saint Paul or Paducah and can’t hitchhike to Brooklyn or any other Target location, don’t fret, the totes are available online for just $29.99 at Target.com/billboardbag. Pre-sales are strong, so don’t delay.

Okay, here is another incentive--it is not just that the billboard is one giant ad for Target and Anna Sui, but four famed artists (Laurie Rosenwald, Michael Anderson, Josh Goldstein and Charles Wilkin) contributed to the crazy collage of a billboard that celebrates the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the humble knish. If you’ve never had a knish, imagine eating a deep fried potato pillow…with mustard! But I digress. You arties out there will also get the opportunity to go home with a kind of museum-quality lithograph by a great artist.

To learn more about this great retailing partnership and all about the billboard bags go to Target.com/billboardbag or just call me!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Comments

[Ron Knoth]

Dear Mitch,

I love the idea of "Moving Targets"! You should send the idea (which I'd copyright first) as it's scathingly brilliant to Judy Bell at Target.

PS: I love your website. I visited yesteday for the first time, visit mine www.thebespokenfor.net

[Mitch Jureckson]

Those darn Food trucks are all over Manhattan (and apparently prospering). Why not Target vans offering a new limited selection (recycled PVC bags!!!) every week?? How about calling the venture Moving Targets :o)

[margot]

Ummm. It's not clear where you live exactly, but there are Target stores in Brooklyn accessible by 2,3,4,5,A,B,C,D,F,G,N,and Q trains. On the UWS where I live, we consider that Mass Transit.

[Ron Knoth]

Dear Bev, Sprout and Jerry,

Three comments in one day, and no one has called even once!

Granted, the use of PVC is far from "green" to begin with, but I have to give Target and Anna their props!

The bags are sold out, but I understand (unconfirmed) that some crafty individuals snapped up the totes for re-sale (demand vs. marketplace, bla, bla, bla) I might acquiese and try eBay at some point, or I'll just have live without. Now I have no excuse to hitch hike to Brooklyn.

Do you think that I can convince Dolce and Gabanna to cut me off a 8 by 10 foot swatch of their nude male models. I think it would make groovy wallpaper for my bedroom.

Regards,

Ron

PS: To Jerry, as per your "Wizard of Oz" comment, you do know that L. Frank Baum was the father of Visual Merchandising and started the first trade magazine "Show Window" on the art of Visual Merchandising.

[Jerry Birnbach]

I am a huge fan of Target, I like to believe that they really want to give back to the community, but I am not sold on this one. I'm feeling the Wizard of Oz needs to be confronted by this skeptic. I am Mr. Positive but there is something here that is hitting a discord.
Ok, some landlord and advertising company as well as a graphic design house has made an incredible amount of money based on the placement of this ad. That is fine, this is America and everyone is entitled to make a profit. Target advertising in Times Square realizes a value of being the the worlds most heavily traffic area. What does this exposure mean in dollar sales for Target? I don't know but it must be big, very big. That exposure means dollars in the cash register for Target, but that is okay, this is America and everyone is entitled to make a profit.
Now we take the canvas, already paid for, provide it at no cost except for shipping to the designers to produce a shopping bag. I would guess the fabric is the big story of the bag design, not the stitching, not the handles, not the Target logo if any. So the labor to manufacture this bag is minimal. Hopefully the labor is in the US as we do need some jobs filled, and not farm this one out to the orient ( which could very well be the case ). So what is the actual cost of this bag ? Maybe $5.00? So where is the additional $24.00 going?
To the homeless? To a worthy charity or non profit starving for contributions in this day and age. I would hope so, but that is not what I am hearing. Wouldn't it be nice that "save the planet" really had a back story of sincere merit to help others. Hey Target it is never too late to change the game plan.
Jerry Birnbach
Retailer for a better tomorrow
Partner RDD Associates Inc
"design with merchandise in mind"

[Sprout]

Bah! All sold out! Very cool none the less.

[Bev Davimes]

Turning billboards into handbags is not a new concept, there is a non-profit group in South Africa which turns billboards into bags/cosmetic purses, totes etc. They are stitched by homeless people, who are earning & learning a skill at the same time. I have several of these and get compliments all the time.

I believe there is also a group in NYC working with the homeless, with a similar mission. They work with the NYC museum's turning their billboards into totes that are then sold in their museum shops.

By the way, I love your blogs. Always fun to read.