All stories about "Marketing Gone Awry"

Photos via Femia, 03/25/2008

A subway car really is a great place for advertising, what with the captive audience and all, but most of the time the featured campaigns aren't too memorable. That's not the case with Cottonelle toilet paper's latest effort. Roving Racked photographer Will Femia, who snapped the shot you see above, reports: "This car on the S train was done entirely, walls and all, to look like it was lined with toilet paper. Ick." Let's just hope no one tries to use the pillow-soft paper.

[Photo via Gothamist]

As you may know, Urban Outfitters has finally, finally decided to open a store or two in Brooklyn, the first of which is set to debut tomorrow morning. The company is going to some strange lengths to promote the new outpost: Per Gothamist, we're alerted to a weird ad (pictured above) that the retailer emailed out this morning. The L Train, Domino Sugar, Coney Island, Biggie Smalls—they've really captured the essence of the borough.
· Brace: First BK Urbans Opening March 13th [Racked]
· Brooklyn Urbans Debuting in Less Than Two Weeks [Racked]
· Progress Report: Atlantic Ave Urban Outfitters Far From Finished [Racked]
· Urban Outfitters Signs Up for Brooklyn Outpost #2, In Cobble Hill [Racked]

We're not the only one's taking umbrage with the new red, white and blue Gucci [Hearts] NY merchandise, trotted out for the unveiling of the luxury brand's massive new Fifth Avenue flagship store. The government is also unhappy with the limited-edition accessories because they boast a copyrighted logo. NY Post:

...when the store finally opened its doors Friday, the company began selling a line of limited-edition products - all stamped with "Gucci [hearts] NY," an obvious takeoff on the classic "I [heart] NY" logo, which became New York's trademarked slogan 31 years ago...The only problem is that the company did not get permission to use the New York state logo—even in an altered way—with its iconic red heart and black letters. And New York zealously guards its copyright—the state has filed more than 3,000 legal challenges over infringements...Thomas Ranese, chief marketing officer for the Empire State Development agency, which controls the copyright to the slogan, told The Post that Gucci had not contacted the agency and did not have permission to use the logo.