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Because product placement isn’t prevalent enough in movies and novels, Svedka vodka is buying off some talent to help further blur the lines between literature and advertising. Nerve.com is sponsoring “a series of articles” that will pop up both online and in a book. Which book? We have no fucking clue.

The project is indicative of how the road between advertising and entertainment is increasingly becoming more of a two-way street. The campaign, from a New York agency named Amalgamated, carries the theme “the future of adult entertainment” and features a character known as the “Svedka_Grl,” a female robot by the Stan Winston special-effects studio. The ads presents the fembot puckishly commenting on contemporary mores by positing outlandish outcomes for life in 2033, when cigarettes will cost $450 a pack, couples are parents to “stem cell baby boomers” and celebrity worship is “the fastest-growing religion.”

The story of Svedka_Grl will be written by 16 writers, including Joel Stein, Jay McInerney, Will Self, and Ana Marie Cox. But, these folks feel totally justified taking part in this project. For one, it’s not journalism, it’s just fiction. And also, there is absolutely no mention of the product or the company. (Except, you know, when they mention Svedka_Grl.)

The photos on the site are all futuristic fembots with teeny waists and huge boobs covered with pasties … which is indicative of how there will still be sexism in advertising in 2033.

A little sneak peak at a portion of Joel Stein’s story, after the jump.

It turns out Mike Derjerlain-Reet-Swenson-Chang doesn’t much care about celebrities. “Five years ago, I knew nothing,” he says. “Sure, I had a subscription to Star magazine, but that was only because I didn’t have time to read the front page of the New York Times every day, and I didn’t want to seem like an idiot.”

See, in 25 or so years, everything will be exactly as it is now.

Blurring the Lines in a Fanciful Leap to 2033 [Stuart Elliott, New York Times]
The Man Who Killed and Saved Wall Street [Joel Stein, Nerve]

Jun 23, 2006 · Link · Repond

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Comments (0)

No. 1
slinkybender says:

What’s this — “Naked Came the Stranger” for a generation that doesn’t read?

Posted: Jun 25, 2006 at 3:56 pm

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