The "middle class" brooch!
Good Day Readers:
Remember this lad before his political makeover who promised to fight for the middle class probably because polls were telling the Liberals that's where the votes were? He liked to portray himself as being simply one of you. Not so.
He's reminiscent of those nauseating, excruciating, interminable, television ads you seemingly see a thousand times a day.
Please shut the .... up Tie!
Well, what about this? Tie Domi takes on Justin Trudeau in a 5-round fight for that $7,000 plus broach. Middle class men out there, how many of your girlfriends/wives/lovers - whatever - are running around wearing $7,000 broaches?
Forget Patrick Brazeau he's a tomato can.
Did Sophie Gregoire "out brooch" the Queen? Did Birks ever "loan" Laureen Harper any brooches or was the Old Girl not glamorous enough?
BTW, what's a pave diamond? Don't know eh? What's the matter too middle class? A pave setting is when diamonds are accent diamonds set closely together for a diamond-encrusted look. The setting can simply be a band with a pave setting or a single stone with a pave setting on the sides.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
P. S. Saw Justin Trudeau address reporters from Paris today in comments intended for a Canadian audience. Jezus, it was, "Dear Friends ...." Best Stephen Harper could do was "Friends. let me be clear you're good to go....." The Liberal love in with the electorate continues.
Men, if your middle class lady friend is running around wearing a $7,000 brooch you didn't buy? Quick marry her so when you divorce half is yours.
.
Birks botches brooch boost: Brands exploit the Trudeau's glamour at their own risk, experts
Claire Brownell
Monday, November 30, 2015
The maple leaf brooch from the retailer's Les Plaisirs de Birks collection, is made of 18 karat white gold and encrusted in pave diamonds. According to Birks website, it is on sale for $6,412.50, down from $7,125. (Source Birks)
A Birks Group Inc. press release intending to draw attention to a diamond brooch Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wore to meet Queen Elizabeth II has instead raised questions about whether such gifts are ethical and in good taste.
On Wednesday, the Montreal-based jewelry retailer issued a release with a photo of Gregoire-Trudeau, her husband Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and their children, greeting the Queen’s equerry at the entrance to Buckingham Palace. The release noted that the maple leaf brooch on Gregoire-Trudeau’s coat is from the retailer’s Les Plaisirs de Birks collection, made of 18 karat white gold and encrusted in pave diamonds.
Queen's equerry Wing Commander Sam Fletcher, right, greets the Trudeaus before they meet the queen Sophie is wearing the Birks brooch. (Getty Images)
“Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau… dazzled in Birks jewelry,” the release read. “The chic Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wore several pieces.”
The press release got little attention until Thursday, when the Ottawa Citizen‘s Glen McGregor pointed out the brooch’s price tag is “a decidedly not-middle-classy $7,125,” in contrast with Trudeau’s pro-middle class election message. The Prime Minister’s Office distanced itself from the release, saying Birks had lent Gregoire-Trudeau the jewelry but hadn’t informed her it planned to turn her outfit into an advertisement. Birks declined to comment.
The quandry is familiar to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, who is known for boosting the careers of American designers by wearing their clothing in public. Last year, Obama’s press secretary Joanna Rosholm told the New York Post that the First Lady normally pays for her own clothes, sometimes accepts gifts from designers that are then donated to the National Archives and never accepts clothing on loan.
Marketing experts interviewed by the Financial Post all agreed that if retailers want to capitalize on Gregoire-Trudeau’s glamorous image by giving or lending her clothing in the hopes she’ll be photographed wearing it, they should make sure they follow all rules designed to prevent politicians from entering conflicts of interest. Then, their best bet is to sit back and wait for a breathless reporter to ask her who she’s wearing — not send out a press release about it.
“It’s a real rookie move on Birks’ part,” said brand consultant Tony Chapman. “They’ll certainly be put in the penalty box.”
Marketing experts interviewed by the Financial Post all agreed that if retailers want to capitalize on Gregoire-Trudeau's glamorous image by giving or lending her clothing in the hopes she'll be photographed wearing it, they should make sure they follow all rules designed to prevent politicians from entering conflict of interest. (Toby Melville-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University who researches brands and consumer behaviour, said he understands why brands would want to attach themselves to the Trudeaus’ glamour. But while it’s common for companies to shower American celebrities with gifts, hoping to earn a mention in the press when they wear them, the strategy is less likely to succeed in Canada.
“Canadians like people they see as peers, rather than on pedestals,” said Middleton. “That’s doubly so in the case of Justin, because that’s how he’s positioned himself — I’m one of you.”
This isn’t the first time the Trudeaus have landed in hot water for their association with a Canadian retailer. In 2010, the family put out a Christmas card wearing fur-trimmed Canada Goose parkas, prompting the animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to call their choice of outerwear “a lurid way of celebrating peace on earth.”
Trudeau is also one of several Canadian politicians to be featured in a tongue-in-cheek advertisement for Canadian men’s clothing retailer Harry Rosen. In 2013, the chain released an image of Trudeau walking towards reporters in the House of Commons with the caption, “I guess you’ve heard. I’ve been invited to Harry’s Private Sale.”
When Harry Rosen tried that with an unauthorized image of former prime minister Stephen Harper playing the piano at the National Arts Centre in 2012, it earned the retailer a rebuke from an unnamed PMO official who called it “pretty tasteless.” The late former finance minister Jim Flaherty was more tactful, reportedly asking the clothing store to make a donation to charity in exchange for using his image.
Queen’s University marketing professor Ken Wong said that might be a good way for the Trudeaus to handle such awkward situations in the future.
“(Gregoire-Trudeau) should at least extract from the manufacturers the true value of her so-called endorsement,” he said. “If she’s redirecting those funds to causes she favours, good form.”
cbrownell@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/clabrow
Remember this lad before his political makeover who promised to fight for the middle class probably because polls were telling the Liberals that's where the votes were? He liked to portray himself as being simply one of you. Not so.
He's reminiscent of those nauseating, excruciating, interminable, television ads you seemingly see a thousand times a day.
Please shut the .... up Tie!
Well, what about this? Tie Domi takes on Justin Trudeau in a 5-round fight for that $7,000 plus broach. Middle class men out there, how many of your girlfriends/wives/lovers - whatever - are running around wearing $7,000 broaches?
Forget Patrick Brazeau he's a tomato can.
Did Sophie Gregoire "out brooch" the Queen? Did Birks ever "loan" Laureen Harper any brooches or was the Old Girl not glamorous enough?
BTW, what's a pave diamond? Don't know eh? What's the matter too middle class? A pave setting is when diamonds are accent diamonds set closely together for a diamond-encrusted look. The setting can simply be a band with a pave setting or a single stone with a pave setting on the sides.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
P. S. Saw Justin Trudeau address reporters from Paris today in comments intended for a Canadian audience. Jezus, it was, "Dear Friends ...." Best Stephen Harper could do was "Friends. let me be clear you're good to go....." The Liberal love in with the electorate continues.
Men, if your middle class lady friend is running around wearing a $7,000 brooch you didn't buy? Quick marry her so when you divorce half is yours.
.
Claire Brownell
Monday, November 30, 2015
A Birks Group Inc. press release intending to draw attention to a diamond brooch Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wore to meet Queen Elizabeth II has instead raised questions about whether such gifts are ethical and in good taste.
On Wednesday, the Montreal-based jewelry retailer issued a release with a photo of Gregoire-Trudeau, her husband Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and their children, greeting the Queen’s equerry at the entrance to Buckingham Palace. The release noted that the maple leaf brooch on Gregoire-Trudeau’s coat is from the retailer’s Les Plaisirs de Birks collection, made of 18 karat white gold and encrusted in pave diamonds.
“Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau… dazzled in Birks jewelry,” the release read. “The chic Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wore several pieces.”
The press release got little attention until Thursday, when the Ottawa Citizen‘s Glen McGregor pointed out the brooch’s price tag is “a decidedly not-middle-classy $7,125,” in contrast with Trudeau’s pro-middle class election message. The Prime Minister’s Office distanced itself from the release, saying Birks had lent Gregoire-Trudeau the jewelry but hadn’t informed her it planned to turn her outfit into an advertisement. Birks declined to comment.
The quandry is familiar to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, who is known for boosting the careers of American designers by wearing their clothing in public. Last year, Obama’s press secretary Joanna Rosholm told the New York Post that the First Lady normally pays for her own clothes, sometimes accepts gifts from designers that are then donated to the National Archives and never accepts clothing on loan.
Marketing experts interviewed by the Financial Post all agreed that if retailers want to capitalize on Gregoire-Trudeau’s glamorous image by giving or lending her clothing in the hopes she’ll be photographed wearing it, they should make sure they follow all rules designed to prevent politicians from entering conflicts of interest. Then, their best bet is to sit back and wait for a breathless reporter to ask her who she’s wearing — not send out a press release about it.
“It’s a real rookie move on Birks’ part,” said brand consultant Tony Chapman. “They’ll certainly be put in the penalty box.”
Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University who researches brands and consumer behaviour, said he understands why brands would want to attach themselves to the Trudeaus’ glamour. But while it’s common for companies to shower American celebrities with gifts, hoping to earn a mention in the press when they wear them, the strategy is less likely to succeed in Canada.
“Canadians like people they see as peers, rather than on pedestals,” said Middleton. “That’s doubly so in the case of Justin, because that’s how he’s positioned himself — I’m one of you.”
This isn’t the first time the Trudeaus have landed in hot water for their association with a Canadian retailer. In 2010, the family put out a Christmas card wearing fur-trimmed Canada Goose parkas, prompting the animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to call their choice of outerwear “a lurid way of celebrating peace on earth.”
Trudeau is also one of several Canadian politicians to be featured in a tongue-in-cheek advertisement for Canadian men’s clothing retailer Harry Rosen. In 2013, the chain released an image of Trudeau walking towards reporters in the House of Commons with the caption, “I guess you’ve heard. I’ve been invited to Harry’s Private Sale.”
When Harry Rosen tried that with an unauthorized image of former prime minister Stephen Harper playing the piano at the National Arts Centre in 2012, it earned the retailer a rebuke from an unnamed PMO official who called it “pretty tasteless.” The late former finance minister Jim Flaherty was more tactful, reportedly asking the clothing store to make a donation to charity in exchange for using his image.
Queen’s University marketing professor Ken Wong said that might be a good way for the Trudeaus to handle such awkward situations in the future.
“(Gregoire-Trudeau) should at least extract from the manufacturers the true value of her so-called endorsement,” he said. “If she’s redirecting those funds to causes she favours, good form.”
cbrownell@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/clabrow
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 12:40 PM
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