MTV's The City (starring The Hills' Whitney Port) is an extremely important reality show that changes the face of fashion, fashion magazines, television, and advertising. The show is essentially placing advertisements/endorsements right on the screen.Magazines run by their ad sales. Magazines have been in the toilet, losing more and more money each year. They don't get the ads, they don't get the money - and if they don't get the right ads, they lose their demographic and the magazine merges into something completely different from its original premise and following. There's a reason Vogue is Vogue. There's a reason we find D&G ads in Vogue and Skecher ads in InTouch magazine. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Why are advertisers backing away from what used to be their bread and butter? Because no body's reading magazines anymore, subscriptions are down. People are on the computer reading blogs and visiting direct websites. And what else are these people doing? Watching TV.
So in The City we see Elle accessories editor and socialite Olivia Palermo searching for styling options for a trends segment for the TODAY show. She dashes into an uber-stylish chain boutique in Soho called MANGO. And how do I know this? Because the information is provided on the screen: MANGO. SOHO.
Now I know everything for a proper Google search, don't I?
fashion mango soho = www.mangoshop.com
Lo and behold, the storefront from the show! It really is real and now I must stop by because it was on MTV and TODAY and it's even been featured in Elle Magazine! It's cool, it's chic, and most importantly, if I go to the store I'll be living the show!
But wait. We're getting ahead of ourselves. Aren't reality shows fake?
Yes, reality shows are fake; especially if it's created by Liz Gateley. Ms. Liz brought us Laguna Beach, The Hills, and now The City. Each show uses its geographic landscape as the through line of the show. Laguna Beach wasn't about teens; it was about these teens in Laguna Beach. Luckily most of the series was shot on beaches and in people's homes. It wasn't until The Hills that location became an issue. Remember, it isn't about young women trying to make a name for themselves (right?), it's about young women in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, deliberately and diabolically making names for themselves. That means they have to go to clubs, clubs, more clubs! And that means getting permits, permits, more permits. And that requires planning. And staging.
And, The City isn't just about women in their twenties, it's about women in New York City who love and live fashion. If I know anything about New York, it's that location is everything but it won't get you everywhere. So if I were a 'lil chain boutique in SOHO/NYC, I'd realize it's in my best interest to allow someone to use my store as a location for their hit MTV reality show so long as they reference the name and its awesome location. Then magically, a conversation that would normally have never been seen or recorded by anyone is seen by millions, and MANGO/SOHO has it all: 1) a daytime segment (TODAY), 2) a shout out on prime time reaching your exact demographic, and 3) featured in Elle Magazine.
Advertising and publicizing aren't the only ones making deals. Fashion icon Kelly Cutrone gets free press for her PR/Branding agency People's Revolution. Meanwhile, aspiring designers Port and Lauren Conrad got support and publicity behind their collections.For some reason, reality programming remains a largely disrespected genre. Yet The City has all but replaced the fashion magazine with our TV monitors and it's redefining how we get our fashion. Stay Tuned.
