# New Era caps marketing to gang members



## Sapper6 (Aug 24, 2007)

> Outraged local activists charge that New Era, the caps' manufacturer, and the New York Yankees  whose famous interlocking NY cap features a choice of a red and black bandanna design for the Bloods, blue and gray for the Crips and a gold crown for the Latin Kings 


 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294409,00.html

what marketing manager in their right mind would make such a decision?  i'm sorry, but i don't buy the excuse of, "we weren't aware."  the person in charge of that marketing campaign should be looking for another job right now.

thoughts?


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## shesulsa (Aug 24, 2007)

This is appalling and should be a lesson for us all that there is no morality in business any longer.


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## jks9199 (Aug 24, 2007)

Sapper6 said:


> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294409,00.html
> 
> what marketing manager in their right mind would make such a decision? i'm sorry, but i don't buy the excuse of, "we weren't aware." the person in charge of that marketing campaign should be looking for another job right now.
> 
> thoughts?


 
It's simple...  Bangers adopted various professional or college sports team logos or clothing because it included their colors or the right number or design.  (If some of these bangers spent the time and mental energy on something constructive that they do interpreting crap for their gang -- they'd probably run the country!)

Meanwhile, the gangsta/hip-hop/thug look gets popular, using those same colors and designs.

People imitiate them; marketers decide that they oughta ride the trend and collect their money, without knowing the origin.

Meanwhile... in some areas, bangers are changing away from those looks because they've had too much attention from cops!


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## CoryKS (Aug 24, 2007)

Expect to see the numbers rise on suburban kids who get beat/shot while wearing the official Crip(tm) cap they just bought down at Hot Topic.


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## Rich Parsons (Aug 24, 2007)

I can understand if a GANG adopts an existing trademark or uses a prodcut for its color scheme. 

But to market Red Paisley and Blue Paisley and Gold with a Crown, that even the engineers I work with who have never ever been in a fight in their life know about the colors. They have never been involved or to a bad part of town. They would have only seen it via the news at best. 

I know that companies are in business to make money. The issue is that where does one draw the line. 

I have a problem with the Yankees and their approval of this. I know in large companies that outside management and marketing executives are hired for campaigns. It is hard to understand how someone could miss this. Even if it is a misunderstanding of a focus group that had Wanna Bees that told them about the red and blue paisley, they should have done some research first.


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## CoryKS (Aug 24, 2007)

On the other hand, if the gangs have an officially designated logo perhaps it would reduce the number of people who are mistaken for gang members because they are wearing the wrong color/team affiliation.


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## MBuzzy (Aug 24, 2007)

Kind of OT.....Interesting aspect of Gangs and marketing....if you have a chance, read the book "Freakonomics."  EXCELLENT book, but it goes into how Gangs are just basically businesses...and their leaders very good business men with leadership skills rivaling CEOs of companies.

Back onto topic....Shesulsa, you're exactly right, there is no morality in business.  I'm sure they'll make a lot of money off of it though, not just from real gang members, but there is a HUGE market for would be and wanna be gang members also.  I'm sure they'll also hit a small portion of people who just buy it because it is "pretty" or something to that effect.  It is sad that companies have gone to this.


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## CoryKS (Aug 24, 2007)

Fark.com's take on this:  "Major League Baseball is selling NYY caps with gang symbol emblems in Harlem. NBA can't believe they didn't think of this first"  :rofl:


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## jks9199 (Aug 24, 2007)

CoryKS said:


> Expect to see the numbers rise on suburban kids who get beat/shot while wearing the official Crip(tm) cap they just bought down at Hot Topic.


Suburban kids are bangers, too.

In fact, MS is HUGE in the Northern Virginia suburbs. 

Gangs are NOT, most emphatically *NOT*, limited to the cities.  As people moved out of the cities, either to get away from crime, for better schools, or because jobs moved out, gangs moved with them.  As the media and entertainment industries glorified and continue to glorify "gangsta life", suburban kids imitate and emulate gang activity, forming their own gangs which often take on the name and signs of well known national gangs like the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, and more.  Additionally, as immigrant and illegal alien communities become established, members of those communities often feel that they are isolated and turn to each other for support; sadly, many times, they turn to gangs like the Black Dragon Family, Tiny Rascal Gangsters, MS-13, Sur13, and others to fill that need.

http://www.gangsorus.com is one of several sites that can offer insight into banger mentality and why gangs form.


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## Bumblebee (Aug 24, 2007)

I think this is just silly.  Making a fashion items for gansters.  Also not everyone that listens to hip hop look is that of a stereotypical gangster.  That statement is just as ignorant as New Era claiming they didn't know that red, blue, and a gold crown was gang related.  Not everyone in the hip hop community dresses like a gangster that you'd see on TV...


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## Touch Of Death (Aug 24, 2007)

If enough people buy the product then the gangs have to find new ways to distinguish themselves. Paisly is not evil in and of itself.
Sean


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## Kacey (Aug 24, 2007)

This is no different, really, than the fad for baggy pants, or wearing a specific solid color, or camoflage, etc. - also gang-related - that kids of all types wear because they are cool.  I don't agree with it, but it's hardly new.


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## theletch1 (Aug 24, 2007)

Touch Of Death said:


> If enough people buy the product then the gangs have to find new ways to distinguish themselves. *Paisly is not evil in and of itself.*
> Sean


Really?  Have you looked at some of the hippy photos from the late sixties early seventies?  I'm telling you paisley is the devil.:ultracool


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## grydth (Aug 25, 2007)

I've been wondering just what kind of market research was done on this... I mean, the Crips were founded on the _West Coast_... I don't want to lose my street creds, but shouldn't the Crips have gotten _Dodgers_ caps?

How far is this marketing going to extend? If there are going to be Crips Day's at Yankee Stadium, will management tell us nonhomicidal maniacs when those might be? *Not* the day I want to bring my kids (aka my posse) out for a game. What if my kids want different gang hats - isn't that just going to lead to more sibling fights at home?

What happens when Joe Putz buys a Bloods cap to impress his main girl... and then encounters 7 genuine Bloods on the Subway? Maybe they should have caps you can turn inside out in time of emergency.

Isn't this going to make police work more difficult? Now, if a Crip gets capped, Police won't know if the Bloods or the Red Sox did it.

Why does Politikal Korrectness have to enter into even this decision? There are innumerable gangs of white crazies every bit as violent as the Crips.... but noooooooooo, you don't see* them* getting their own caps, do you?


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## Touch Of Death (Aug 25, 2007)

theletch1 said:


> Really? Have you looked at some of the hippy photos from the late sixties early seventies? I'm telling you paisley is the devil.:ultracool


Yes, Chong used it to impersonate a female if memory serves, and that is where all the trouble began. I knew there was a deeper message in "Up In Smoke".:ultracool
Sean


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## Touch Of Death (Aug 25, 2007)

grydth said:


> I've been wondering just what kind of market research was done on this... I mean, the Crips were founded on the _West Coast_... I don't want to lose my street creds, but shouldn't the Crips have gotten _Dodgers_ caps?
> 
> How far is this marketing going to extend? If there are going to be Crips Day's at Yankee Stadium, will management tell us nonhomicidal maniacs when those might be? *Not* the day I want to bring my kids (aka my posse) out for a game. What if my kids want different gang hats - isn't that just going to lead to more sibling fights at home?
> 
> ...


Perhaps the cap is bad, as I buy stock in cowby hats and doo rags.(of the proper color of course)
Sean


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## Rich Parsons (Aug 25, 2007)

grydth said:


> I've been wondering just what kind of market research was done on this... I mean, the Crips were founded on the _West Coast_... I don't want to lose my street creds, but shouldn't the Crips have gotten _Dodgers_ caps?
> 
> How far is this marketing going to extend? If there are going to be Crips Day's at Yankee Stadium, will management tell us nonhomicidal maniacs when those might be? *Not* the day I want to bring my kids (aka my posse) out for a game. What if my kids want different gang hats - isn't that just going to lead to more sibling fights at home?
> 
> ...



Tangential comment:

Maybe the Yankees were chosen or they thought the west coast "Players" would be interested as the "Yankees" are winners. Note: I am not saying they are, just the attititude I see in the press and from the team. So, if the team is winners then the dominant "players" would want to wear them right?

I still think it is a bad idea.


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## Kacey (Aug 25, 2007)

I could be wrong, but if I'm remembering correctly, sports teams (college and pro) were chosen because their colors matched the gang colors, rather than for their locations.


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## Rich Parsons (Aug 26, 2007)

Kacey said:


> I could be wrong, but if I'm remembering correctly, sports teams (college and pro) were chosen because their colors matched the gang colors, rather than for their locations.



Color was the main choice selection, from what I knew as well.


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## kidswarrior (Aug 26, 2007)

Yes, this is appalling, but not new. The Raiders have been doing this under the radar for years.


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## CoryKS (Aug 26, 2007)

kidswarrior said:


> Yes, this is appalling, but not new. The Raiders have been doing this under the radar for years.


 
Judging by their fans, I thought the Raiders _were_ a gang.


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## jks9199 (Aug 26, 2007)

Kacey said:


> I could be wrong, but if I'm remembering correctly, sports teams (college and pro) were chosen because their colors matched the gang colors, rather than for their locations.





Rich Parsons said:


> Color was the main choice selection, from what I knew as well.



Sometimes it was the color, sometimes it was elements of the design, or interpretations created by the team name.  For example, UNC was once popular with MS because of the shade of blue, but Bloods like Chicago Bulls apparel not only because of the red contained, but also because they have several interpretations of BULLS.  People Nation gangs might wear Houston Astros items because of the 5 point star in the design...

It's also important to realize that simply wearing certain clothes doesn't automatically make a person a gang member.  It takes several months, and multiple real life contacts for new gang investigators to start recognizing "the look" of a banger, and bangers do change their look when they realize that it's getting them too much attention.  For example, I haven't seen an MS member wearing a #13 Tarheels jersey in quite a while...  And, as a corollary to that, it's necessary to remember that the "rules" change in different areas, too.  What goes for the DC area where I work isn't the same as what goes for Los Angeles, for example.

One more thing, regarding professional sports, as well as the entertainment industry...

There ARE bangers that are pro athletes.  Their wealthier -- but they're still bangers.


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## exile (Aug 26, 2007)

My guess: the Yankees management knew _exactly_ what they were doing when they picked the color/design combinations reported in the story, and calculated, down to the nickel, the likely profit they would net from the first shockwave of sales and the followup, minus the spin costs and possible lawsuit actions from advocacy groups like the people mentioned in the story, and came up in the black. Not very charitable; but my personal hunch is that the Yankees management, or any sports mega-franchise,  would also sell cocaine to fifth graders if they could possibly figure out a way to do it legally, or even cost-effectively. After all, the sincere relentlessness with which MLB has pursued the anabolic drug angle amongst some of its top-performing stars tells you volumes about how disturbed those chaps really are when a whole generation of batters starts beating .300 a season... and laying down a genuinely astonishing number of home runs/multiple base hits per at-bats. 

There's currently a class action suit we just heard about against a mortgage company that got hold of people's personal info from credit agencies illegally and used that information in their marketing plan. I'm sure this suit is going to expand to take in _lots_ of such agencies, and again, I'm willing to bet anything that these outfits figured out exactly how much they would make vs. how much they'd lose in worst-case outcomes, found they'd still be in the black, and cheerfully went ahead. Don't look for ethical behavior from _any_ of these folks, my friends....


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