awareness | Pomelo girl thoughts

This new campaign of H&M’s is pretty insane if we’re looking at where the fashion industry, where the people featured in these series are either considered “fringe” or not considered at all. Beyond Mariah Idrissi’s hijab, the video features a young man wearing a simple pencil skirt, full-blown cross-dressers, Japanese lolita dress, traditional Japanese dress, Sikh turbans, mouth guards, a sheikh, and an amputee boxer.

Personally, having attended one of the most diverse universities in the world, where I’ve fostered friendships all across the board, and where the Muslim Girl blog got its beginnings, I actually think there are other characters way more interesting to me. I’d like the US to stop being so surprised that people who look and dress differently exist within their worlds, and I honestly thought we were getting somewhere with Muslim and Sikh dress, but I guess that’s just within the bubble of my university life and my friend group. Figures.

One thing that surprised me a little is that Elnaz Barari maintains that H&M does not take political or religious stands; unfortunately for Ms. Barari, the H&M’s board, and Ms. Idrissi, this, and everything else they’ve been doing to create a sustainable business model, is a political stand. Showcasing fringe and saying that everyone is welcome is taking a stand. At least according to conservatives it would be. And so here we are, where “It might be because hijab fashion has boomed in the last few years and to finally see a hijabi in mainstream fashion is a big achievement.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2015 by elemonated

AKA “Candy Sales Eve” and “Single People Cry Bitterly Into Their Alcohol Day” and “Welp. It’s First Mother’s Day Again.”

Nick Diamond making jingles and social awareness through advertising

Posted on October 2, 2014 by elemonated

Went to the Saatchi & Saatchi ‘7×7’ Seminar at BB King after my volunteering shift! It was fantastic, although I wish everyone had more time to speak. That was the point though; seven people, with seven minutes each.

I also caught the end of the previous seminar, which was about social awareness through advertising with the creators in charge of the Truth campaign and Evolve’s gun safety campaign:

Don’t Be a Dumbass:

As well as Budweiser’s love affair with puppies continuing to make people ‘aw’ and cry and this time, warn people against drinking and driving.

We narrowly missed an off-topic and harrowing discussion about gun rights (and how no one should have guns, my god, why are you even encouraging this) and it seemed that everyone working on these particular projects were passionate and truly put thought into targeting my generation. Especially though, they were aware of slacktivism and made sure to supplement the awareness with activities; creating cab and towing programs to keep drunken people off the road, getting gun owners to sign a code of gun safety and trying to bridge the gap between gun owners and non-gun owners by engaging through social media, and acknowledging that as a culture we’ve come a long way for smoking, and that all there’s left is to burn it out.