For the second time now, Dell has joined forces with a team of graffiti artists to tag the sh*t out of a Volkswagen. Last time it was a Vanagon, this time it's an old-school Beetle. For some reason, Dell thinks that sponsoring some graffiti will cool up its Dell Studio laptops and that they should give VW some free juice in the process. Does it work?
I'm gonna say...yes. First, let's watch the vid, then discuss:
Graffiti culture is all about authenticity. When SONY appropriated the art form in the service of its PSP handheld gaming system, people got pissed off. Perhaps it was because the product itself could not be a legitimate part of graffiti culture or perhaps it was because SONY tried to hide its own involvement in the promotion somewhat.
What Dell's effort—sans backlash—says to me is:
- The Dell Studio laptop is not being rejected by graffiti culture
- Sponsoring art events where art is celebrated is a better way to go about appropriating a subculture than to use it secretly
In the end, the message delivered is: This Dell laptop might be pretty damn cool.* And I have a strange desire to go buy a vintage VW. Huh.
* And, shit, it's a lot cheaper than that Apple MacBook Pro.