In the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, black entertainers made considerable sums of money selling ghetto wine and malt liquor to their less fortunate brothers and sisters. “Liquid crack” was dirt cheap and fortified with alcohol and shitloads of sugar to get you higher faster. As Billy Dee Williams said in his TV pitch for Colt 45, “It works every time.”

40-ounce warriors were macho, sexy and hip…at least that’s what the commercials wanted the black community to think. The reality was much more grim. Malt liquors like Schlitz, Colt 45, Olde English 800, St. Ides, King Cobra and bum wines like Thunderbird and Wild Irish Rose were responsible for an increase in alcoholism, violence and crime in black neighborhoods. High alcohol content and the cost of a bottle being under two bucks was a deadly combination. Add to that the veneer of coolness that Kool and the Gang, Fred Williamson, Biggie Smalls and Snoop Dog brought to the mix and you got a problem that went viral. 

Nowadays, low-rent white hipsters drink the poisonous piss in order to give them some kind of street cred while hip-hop artists have moved on to Cristal and Dom. But the high-end shit hasn’t trickled down to Skid Row yet.

While the product sold was crap for sure, the ads themselves are fascinating time capsules, some sending signals that are incredibly politically incorrect: making light of drunk driving, intimating that women will give it up after a few drinks, and using racial stereotypes that border on Stepin Fetchit caricature. And Blacks weren’t the only ones denigrated—check out the East Indian guy in the “Gunga Din” Colt 45 commercial below.

There’s also an interesting clip of Johnny Cannon wielding a Colt 45 pistol and a can of Colt 45 beer. A wise combination, don’t you think? Johnny’s expression of disgust as he guzzles the malt liquor is priceless.

Then I ask a question you brother
What the fuck is you drinkin’
He don’t know but it flow
Out the bottle in a cup
He call it gettin’ fucked up
Like we ain’t fucked up already
See the man they call Crazy Eddie
Liquor man with the bottle in his hand
He give the liquor man ten to begin
Wit’ no change and he run
To get his brains rearranged
Serve it to the home they’re able
To do without a table
Beside what’s inside ain’t on the label
They drink it thinkin’ it’s good
But they don’t sell the shit in the white neighborhood

—Public Enemy, “1 Million Bottlebags”
 

 
This TV commercial for the Verizon Droid X has an unsettling similarity to the infamous torture photo that came out of Abu Ghraib. Is this an unfortunate coincidence or is Verizon actually making some kind of sick joke? Whatever the case, I’m shocked that anyone would sign off on this ad. Was the ad agency who created it blind, clueless or deliberately mocking a dark moment in this country’s history? What do you think?

Nxtiak made a video of the commercial recording it directly from a television screen.

 
Via Gizmodo

 
Thunderbird is the crack cocaine of wines. It’s fortified with additional alcohol to get you drunk quicker. If you drink enough of the swill it will turn your tongue black, incinerate your gut and napalm your liver. The Gallo Wine Co. designed their firewater with the ghetto in mind. Their radio ads featured a song with a proto-rap vibe, “What’s the word? / Thunderbird / How’s it sold? / Good and cold / What’s the jive? / Bird’s alive / What’s the price? / Thirty twice.”  It is said that…

Ernest Gallo once drove through a tough, inner city neighborhood and pulled over when he saw a bum. When Gallo rolled down his window and called out, “What’s the word?” the immediate answer from the bum was, “Thunderbird.

In a move that seems almost surreal, actor James Mason was recruited by Gallo to pitch its poverty punch. He was given a Rolls Royce as payment. Years later, Mason went on to star as a vicious slave owner in the soft-core blaxploitation potboiler Mandingo. Thunderbird shill to sleazoid slave owner ain’t much of a stretch character wise and probably didn’t earn him any dividends in the karma department.

The first ad in the following video tries to glamorize Thunderbird as a sexy, hip and happening cocktail for young stylish Blacks. The second is Mason trying to keep a straight face as he describes Thunderbird as “not quite like anything I’ve ever tasted.’

Apparently James had never drunk gasoline.
 

 
Every once in a while, when you’re not trying to teach yourself heavy metal yodeling or trying to figure out what it is that is so captivating about Johnny Rotten in a poorly-made Italian police drama from the 1980s, you might find yourself eager to kick back with a quick bout of gaming. Something immersive, so you can dive in, shoot a few death rays and forget that you’ll never, ever be as cool as Mick Farren.

Alienware’s new laptop offerings are packed with enough power to handle the most intense gaming sessions, but work just as well for listening to Dangerous Minds Radio. The M11x won the Best in CES 2010 award for gaming, supercharging its diminutive frame with great graphics capabilities. The M15x, a step above, packs the same level of power into a comfortable 15’’ screen. Lastly, the M17x is maxed out with the most powerful processors around to ensure you can keep blasting away in the heat of the moment.

For more information, click here.

 
Warning: this ad is toxic.

Created by the German advertising agency Zeitsprung, this extremely nasty public service announcement depicts HIV in the form of a body modification artist. Yeah, guys with tattoos and earrings and bumps on their heads should be avoided at all costs when it comes to hugs. They might be HIV positive. But big white cuddly bears are okay. You already knew that, right?

Since when has HIV been transmitted through hugging?

The ad is worthless, or at best confusing, as information and propagates an ugly stereotype about people who look different than the average guy on the street.

The message to wear condoms gets lost in the ad’s horror movie shock effect.

 
I’ve spent so much time with this record already, I nearly forgot that this is the day it officially makes its way into the world. Be kind, world ! Actually folks have been extremely kind so far. Prefix mag via KCRW posted up a lovely piece yesterday and there’s a podcast with songs from my shady past and present as well as a pretty good and casual phone interview at Most People Are DJs. And of course, as you doubtless already know due to that flashing ad down there, you can buy your own CD or colored vinyl LP (see above) directly from my superb label, Hometapes.
 

Brad Laner - Eyes Close from Josh Laner on Vimeo.

 
Duncan Dowling has come up with some stylish concepts for redesigning American dollars. The vertical layout makes the money easier to handle because that’s the way paper currency is exchanged between people and machines.
You can read more about the project at Dowling’s website.

We have submitted a design concept to a competition being run by New York designer Richard Smith. The Dollar ReDe$ign Project hopes to bring about change for everyone. We want to rebrand the US Dollar, rebuild financial confidence and revive our failing economy.

 
More bucks after the jump…

 
James Ready Beer has created one very cool ad campaign. In an effort to save their customers money so they can afford to buy more James Ready Beer the brewery created billboard coupons.

By partnering with local retailers, we created a program that allowed people to take a picture of our billboard, show the picture to the corresponding retailer and receive savings on selected products and services. Saving money meant more beer money.

 
Do you “like” us? I mean do you really like us? Then become our Facebook friend and we can pal around in cyber-space!

You can also follow us on Twitter. The main DM Twitter feed is here, Brad Laner’s Twitter feed is here and mine can be found here.

Friend us, follow us, like us!

 
Dear Dangerous Mind reader,

Now that I have your attention, can we talk? You know us, but we really don’t know who you are. Yet.

Would you mind, please, taking a minute to fill out our short questionnaire? Our advertising sales agency, Largetail would like to get an idea of who Dangerous Minds readers are and, frankly, when they’re out there selling advertising for us, it’s handy for them to be armed with information like “76% of DM readers bought a DVD in the past year” or “38% of DM readers have a Blu-ray player” are NetFlix subscribers, have iPhones, are between the ages of etc, etc, etc. You get the idea.

We’re also interested in what kind of culture you are consuming. What movies you are seeing, books you are reading and what music you are listening to. Some of the questions are not of interest to potential advertisers, they are only really of interest to us. Like I was saying, we need this information to sell adverising, yes, but we also want to know who is out there reading this blog.

Won’t you take a minute and fill out the survey, please? Each person who completes the survey will be eligible to win a selection of books from our friends at Feral House and Process Media Inc. Click here to take survey. Thank you!

 
As seen on the Paper Magazine Twitter feed via Henry Holland’s.

 
memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ turns digital images into compact, durable photo albums.  Here’s how the online service works: You simply upload and arrange your images, edit, preview, then order. You can “flip” through your memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album online and see exactly what it will look like in “real life.” Each album houses 24 images on water and crinkle-resistant card stock sandwiched between personalized front and back covers. (Here’s the one that I made)

Professionally, you could use a memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album as a mini portfolio (easy to see how this would be of use to a photographer or make-up artist). You could construct a squeaky clean memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album for your grandmother to use as a “brag book” or to commemorate events (graduations, weddings, parties) or projects (school plays, remodeling your house from start to finish, etc).

A memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album, printed on card stock, 24 full color images, plus custom cover (see ours above) costs ?¢‚Äö¬¨15 (including shipping).

Because we love you as much as we do (especially you) we’re giving away five vouchers for FREE memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ albums to five Dangerous Minds readers who impress us the most with their idea for what can be done with a memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album. To enter, tweet @richardmetzger with how you would use a memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album—be creative—and we’ll pick from entries received before midnight EST on December 14, 2009.

Here is a special DM discount code you can use when you purchase a memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ album: Just add YpcQkEpga5 when you register for a 5% discount off your first order. You can also order memolio?¢‚Äû¬¢ vouchers directly from their store, add a personal message to your giftee and send a voucher directly to them.

 
The Equinox club, which the Dangerous Minds team visited in West Hollywood, is the most tech-saavy, advanced workout arena I’ve ever been to. Their machines are state-of-the-art, their staff is trained to the highest and most current scientific standards, and they even have a full suite of support technology, starting with their own iPhone app.

Simply put, Equinox is AWESOME. It’s like walking into a perfectly-oiled Megascience Machine designed to remake you into your ideal self. And they are offering Dangerous Minds readers a 3-day trial membership.

First off, Equinox looks more like a cruise ship than a traditional gym. The epic facilities include rows of frontline equipment and all of the amenities you would come to expect from a gym, but also so much more: Aromatherapy suites. Tanning areas. Steam rooms. Massage tables. Yoga. Everything you need to conduct your own personal leisure crusade. It’s the type of place you’d want to spend more time at than your own home or office, a gym paradise loaded down with so many features and perks that it might be harder to NOT exercise than to exercise. Gyms have traditionally been sweaty, grunty prisons. Equinox is more like stepping into your own personal comfort zone.

Their training process shows an incredible level of research and attention paid to the newest advances in sports and fitness technology?¢‚Ǩ‚ÄùEquinox’s 3-Cycle System and Active Metabolic Training System show that this is a new kind of gym, one focused on working out in the smartest and most advanced way possible. Fitness trainers at Equinox complete 150 hours of education at the Equinox Fitness Training Institute (EFTI), molding them into Fitness Ninjas equipped with the latest and greatest personal training science, the perfect complement to Equinox’s state-of-the-art equipment.

And, of course, there’s the highly impressive iPhone application?¢‚Ǩ‚ÄùMYEQ, which is like a personal training assistant. The application allows users to see what’s happening in the club, track their visits and progress, reserve equipment or spots in classes, and interface with the iPhone’s calendar to keep class scheduling current. You can even use the application to check in, by flashing your member code on the phone when you walk in. The app also plays Equinox-curated DJ sets, also, to keep you entertained while you work out. (Equinox is so committed to developing their workout support technology that they have their own Director of Internet Services.)

All in all, I was VERY impressed. As the kind of guy whose exercise routine consists of running away from gyms, Equinox really, really made me want to reconsider that policy. Beautiful facilities, beautiful people, beautiful views of the Los Angeles skyline. YES.

Click here to redeem your 3-day trial membership to Equinox. It’s not fitness. It’s life.

 
Equinox Fitness Clubs asked we four at Dangerous Minds to tour their facilities, write up our impressions and offer our readers a 3-day trial membership so they can check out an Equinox near them. Click here to sign up.

I agree with all of what Richard had to say in his post about Equinox. The main thing he mentions is that it was sparkling clean and this is quite true. That’s a big plus for me, too—but I have a few other observations to offer.

From a woman’s perspective, Equinox seems extremely luxurious. The spa looked especially good to me and the prices were better than reasonable. Everything smelled nice, the sauna was extra clean (that word again) and I loved the way everything looked. The yoga studio was very “zen” but at the same time ultra modern and chic. There was nice Italian modernist furniture in the waiting room/lobby area. The spa staff had ready answers to all of our questions, were friendly and very knowledgeable about all they offered there. I’m definitely going to check out the spa one day soon and pamper myself. I’d been looking for a good place to go in LA (without naming names, I had a horrific experience once in what is probably LA’s best known spa chain and so I’m pretty picky!) and I was quite impressed by the day spa at the Equinox club on Sunset Blvd, the club we visited.

Second woman-only observation: I would feel comfortable working out at an Equinox club. The male clientele seems to be on the “classier” side of the equation and I wouldn’t fear dumb guys hitting on me in such a high end gym. There is nothing worse than that and every woman knows what I am talking about.

I got the sense during our tour that the club was undergoing constant upgrading and improvements. Improvements to an already pretty fantastic gym, I should say. They had just gotten a fleet of brand new state-of-the-art Schwinn exercise bikes, and the men’s locker rooms were being redone from the floors up when we were there. I know I keep coming back to the same thing, how clean the club is, but if you think about it, gyms can get really grody, really fast and this place positively gleamed. It’s a big, huge part of enjoying your workout experience, are you with me ladies?

Finally, if you did want to hang out and talk to someone cute afterward, there’s an Elixir health cafe with all kinds of yummy drinks and things right on the premises. I can see myself coming here often after a workout. I’d take an Elixir over a Starbucks any day.

All in all, great experience. What more can I say beside this is the single nicest gym I’ve ever been in? If you’d like to check out an Equinox Fitness Club near you, click here for a 3-day trial membership and tell ‘em Dangerous Minds sent you.

 
You are reading an advertisement. Well, that’s not exactly true, you are reading what is known as “advertorial,” a paid for conflation of advertising and editorial. The four of us here at Dangerous Minds met last Sunday evening and toured the Equinox Fitness Club on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. Each of us will be writing about what we saw there and if you are curious, you can click here for a 3 day trial to the Equinox nearest you.

The Equinox club that we visited offers their members an ultra high end gym and spa experience. By far the best I’ve ever personally experienced, and I’m no stranger to gyms, or high end gyms at that (I was a member of what is probably Equinox’s main competitor for years, but there is absolutely no comparison). It was like being in a combination night club, luxury hotel, gym and beauty spa. Nice architecture, modern furniture, soft state of the art lighting, friendly helpful staff, a dramatic entrance, I think there was a live DJ—it’s a pretty glamorous place to work out, I must say.

The clientele, this being West Hollywood, tend to look like movie stars. Some of them, of course, are movie stars. No matter what your sexual orientation, there is some amazing eye candy working out here, but the vibe is respectful and the unspoken rule of all gyms (“Men do not hit on the women” I think sums it up) applies here at Equinox as well.

But these are somewhat superficial things that have nothing to do with how good of a workout you get. To be honest, the only thing I care about is the equipment. I want it to be new—this is really important to me, because they keep coming out with better and better machines all the time—and I want it to be CLEAN. Equinox comes up a winner in both categories. It’s as clean as a five star hotel and the machines are state of the art. They have a new fleet of Schwinn exercise bikes and they even have several Pilates Reformers for group classes, which takes the package completely over the top in my opinion.

Simply put, Equinox is the Rolls Royce of gyms. Click here to redeem your 3-day trial membership to Equinox.