Thursday, November 15, 2007

Barney's Goes Green

Barney’s, proud of it’s cutting edge ability to know what is on their clientele’s mind each holiday shopping season decided today that “Green is the new Black.” The front window designer lamented the green theme mandate initially, but surprised himself with his own brilliance by coming up with “Rudolph the Recycled Reindeer,” mixed media collage. Made from recycled cans of course.

People. Is this the best we can do? Really?

Responding to the trend of going green and the clientele’s desire to have a more “meaningful shopping experience,” Barney’s spokesperson said, “If this green movement is just a fad it will be a disaster.”

Gee mister, you should run for president.

Here are some highlights from this years holiday catalog: Make sure everyone knows you are buying organic with this canvas bag. Classified under “Barney’s Obsessions category” it took me 3 clicks to find the price ($75).

Here’s the product description:

“Lose the plastic! An exclusive collaboration between the NYC Mayor’s office and Barneys New York. Bring it to the grocery store, the farmer’s market, the bookstore, or the beach. You can feel good about this purchase! 20″ x 18″ x 7″. Made in U.S.A. Untreated, undyed cotton canvas. Barneys New York will donate $10 from the sale of each bag to the City of New York to plant trees in public parks.”

Seriously? Anyone who has $75 to spend on a freaking canvas bag so that $10 can go towards planting trees should be donating an entire arboretum to every town in the United States. I give them credit for the bag being made in the US, but where does the cotton come from? A collaboration between Barneys and the NYC Mayor’s office? Dude, if you live in New York City you should ask for a refund of your tax dollars.

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