Product Tampering as Art
[Guest post by DRJ]
Some Gatorade bottles in the Denver area have turned up with labels showing Tiger and Elin Woods and marked “unfaithful.” The label-maker has apparently already been identified … because he put his email address on the label:
“9Wants To Know investigators tracked an e-mail hidden in the label’s small print to Jason Kay of Longmont.
Kay admitted he helped a friend pull of what he called a “pop art” project.
“He doesn’t want to be contacted,” Kay said. “The artist wants to remain anonymous because there are similar future projects in the works.”
Kay said the object of the project was to create conversation.
Bottles turning up in the Denver area have hand-written numbers on the bottom indicating each is one of 100.
Kay said there are actually about 1,000 such “unfaithful” bottles planted in stores from Longmont to Denver. He said the hand-numbered ones are just the “collectors’ edition.”
The products are being tested to see if more than the labels have been altered.
— DRJ
well, he can run the art w*rkshop in prison…..
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/12/2010 @ 12:40 amYeah if you’re going to do guerilla art you won’t be able to take credit for it.
imdw (688568) — 1/12/2010 @ 5:12 amHow did he get access to the product in the first place? I doubt that he bought the stuff and then put them back on the shelves. Chances are he had access at the store’s warehouse or the distributor’s warehouse and had some inside help. I can’t see him standing in the aisle of a store and placing his labeles on the bottles.
In a related matter, it is interesting that the guy who is suspected in the Tylenol killings 25 years ago in Chicago is back in the news and now has to give a DNA sample in that case. While the guy in this instance didn’t alter the product, he did alter the lable which I would imagine is an actionable offense. I hope he is arrested and charged accordingly. It sounds like he has more of this nonsense in mind.
BT (74cbec) — 1/12/2010 @ 5:39 amI guess I should have read the story first as it does answer some questions. A guy, Jason Kay, who helped the unnamed artist is quoted in the story and admits he used his “connections” to pull this off. I am sure the authorities are going to be interested in just who those “connections” are, store employees, warehouse employees, etc. Gatorade and the food store chains involved are probably going to treat this very seriously and I would imagine will come after Mr. Kay and his “connections” with the full force of the law– as they should. No doubt he will give up the unnamed artist in his pleadings.
I am all for having a good time and for those who want to make artistic statements to have the freedom to do so. But I also well remember the fear and panic that happened here in Chicago in the aftermath of the Tylenol killings. It is serious stuff to tamper with the labeling of a product that is on the shelf of a commercial store even if the tampering is done in a whimsical manner like in this case. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
BT (74cbec) — 1/12/2010 @ 5:55 amInteresting that the FEDS are still after the “Tylenol Man”
collecting a DNA sample a few days ago.
rab (7a9e13) — 1/12/2010 @ 7:13 amOur friends threw a baby shower when our daughter was born. One asked me for some old family photos and she photoshopped them on “artisan” pop bottle labels as party favors/mementos.
nk (df76d4) — 1/12/2010 @ 7:29 amthat’s awesome… me I’ve wanted to write “whore” on the magazines where you check out at Ralph’s like a kajillion times
happyfeet (e9e587) — 1/12/2010 @ 7:32 amI have more contempt for “the artist” than I do for Shepard Fairey, the talented slimebag who maintains his “street cred” by continuing to scar urban streets with his political art (he created the Obama “Hope” poster) and his iconic Andre the Giant portraits. Vandalism for the glory of one’s inflated image of himself is one thing; altering a product on supermarket shelves is another thing completely. You’re messing with other people’s work, their trademark, their livelihoods.
Oh, what a lofty aim. Puhleeze. It’s not like there was a lack of conversation about Tiger.
Personally, I don’t think Jason Kay is “a friend,” I think he’s the “artist,” or at least one of the
L.N. Smithee (e1f2bf) — 1/12/2010 @ 12:07 pmartistsperpetrators. It’s reminiscent of the violent vandalizing actions done by the Animal Liberation Front that are always followed up by a supposedly official ALF statement read by someone who claims s/he isn’t a member of the group.Ultimately, whoever did this will find that the cost for renting a billboard, or a full page ad in the Denver paper would have cost much less than what he is going to have to pay in lawyer’s fees, court fees, and indemnification.
AD - RtR/OS! (049607) — 1/12/2010 @ 2:08 pmPlus, he won’t like the consequences of being a convicted felon – whether he goes to prison or not.
I can think of a lot of ways to “create conversation.”
carlitos (057200) — 1/12/2010 @ 9:24 pmof course the Feds are still after they cyanide person: there is no SOL on murder.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/12/2010 @ 9:42 pmWhy on earth should this guy be punished?
No one was harmed, there is no allegation that the actual product was contaminated in any way.
Amiable Dorsai (a84d85) — 1/15/2010 @ 5:35 pm