Weekly Rewind: March 2
Melania (not Donald) Trump sparks social media frenzy, Meghan Markle joins Me Too and Time's Up; & American Apparel fools foul of same advertising in our round-up of the must-read stories from the world wide web.
5. First Lady's comments on social media positivity spark social media backlash
Another week, another story about the Trumps and social media. This time it's Melania who's in the eye of Twitter storm as she called for adults to "take the lead" to encourage children to develop "positive habits with social media and technology". All well and good, you might think, but as a story on the BBC News site reported, many on Twitter were quick to point out that the First Lady might want to start her social media education back at the White House, by helping the US President to heed that advice himself.
4. The Matrix's banana phone makes a comeback
If you cast your mind back to 1999 and the breakout film smash of that year then you may remember long, black leather jackets, clip on sunglasses, 'bullet time' and Nokia's banana phone. At the time, pre-iPhone and when Nokia were the leading mobile phone supplier, they were a must-have gadget that any person aiming for cool cred needed to own. Well, if you missed out that time - or if you want to revisted your past - then you're in luck because, as The Verge reports, Nokia are re-releasing the banana phone, better known as the Nokia 8810. So, grab your leather trenchcoat, don your shades and practice saying "Mr Anderson" in Hugo Weaving's iconic drawl because the late 90s are back, back, back...
3. Me Too and Time's Up get the royal stamp
It seems it's not just celebrities and politicians backing the TIme's Up and Me Too movements, sparked by the sexual harrassment claims from disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein. Royalists are behind it too. Or at least soon-to-be royalist, Meghan Markle is, according to the The Huffington Post. Although she didn't express much beyond her support of these movements, her views were noted because of how rarely members of the royal family comment on political and cultural movements. We're hoping it's the first of many.
2. GAP pride for Insta campaign
GAP should be proud of its recently-released Instagram campaign, which aims to normalise breastfeeding, following the praise it's got online. The Independent picked up the story this week after it received almost 35,000 likes. Not only that but it featured a black model and child, showing that there's power to be had when listening to consumers. Shame more brands don't do the same...
1. New look American Apparel; Same old American Apparel?
American Apparel, the hugely successful clothing brand that eventually crumbled under the weight of its own lascivious marketing and the accusations of sexual misconduct levelled at founder and CEO, Dov Charney, is back. But is it any different? Now owned by Canadian company Gildan Activewear, the retailer has made steps to chage by employing an all-female team to create its new campaign, Back to Basics, but as the Future Labaratory reports, while the brands says the campaign is about empowering women, not sexualising them, the images themselves aren't much different from the previous Charney-era ones. American Apparel argues the campaign is fundamentally different because it is created and overseen by women, but does that fact make the images any less sexist?
