WHAT-brown pants? #FdAdFriday

Via Buzzfeed

Yes, that's how they described them.

It is not, apparently, a hoax. The offending web site, by an Abercrombie & Fitch outlet that seemed to be in the UK (one would assume, from the prices) has since been taken down. But Google still has it cached, sans image (but with image tags still in place).

And there's this text:

"Abercrombie and Fitch brand has been attracting the young market to the greatest extent. They are in love with these products, for they perfectly suit their looks. The reason of success of A&F is the dedication, which you can see in its stitching, designs, detailing, fabric and color contrasting. It pays attention on each and every detail of the garments and accessories."

Note the bad English. And that's a clue to how this may have happened.

A&F, according to The Daily Mail, has nothing to do with the site and are probably the ones who got it shut down. The site was actually registered in China, where the counterfeiting of famous brand name  clothing is common. The Mail adds, "observers said the racist name given to the clothes could be put down to bad Chinese to English translation software."

So hopefully, it was not intentional. But it is still unfortunate PR for A&F, since they have been accused of intentional racism (and "lookism") before, including in a $50 million class action lawsuit.

Selling temporary tatts with sexy balloons

These ads by Y&R Beijing use improbably-anatomical balloon shapes to promote the painlessness of applying Ed Hardy stick-on tattoos.

I'm glad they made the "balloon knot" PG...

Oddly, the while the product category exists at the Ed Hardy shop, there don't appear to be any for sale.

Pity, since a temporary tramp stamp today could save a lot of young women expensive laser treatments in later life.

Cool ads though. Both visually interesting and bang-on with the product benefit.

Via Ads of The World.