Recessionistas Invade the Ad World

I had lunch today with an old friend who now teaches at a New York City university. He said that it is good being a professor because he doesn't have to worry about knowing what's cool anymore. As a student he had found that teachers who tried to be hip were, actually, a bit pathetic. I showed him my G1 Google phone asking him whether being uncool and geeky was cooler than the hip iPhone. He said geeky cool was so 1990s. Now, the coolest is the downtrodden "recessionistas." In fact, those with jobs risked being seen as outsiders in this pleather economy. Lo and behold, this aesthetic has reached Madison Avenue with GM's new advertising. GM is no longer about big, powerful SUVs but is the underdog fighting with the people.