Updated every weekday.

Reviewed today: robert@ckone.com

Calvin Klein has a long reputation for pushing the limits of commercial advertising. From Brooke Shields' proclaiming that "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins," to low-quality videos that look like they are back room casting calls for kiddy porn, Calvin Klein continually grabs the headlines and the publicity. Whether the commercials are successful as advertisements is a different story.

While we quite enjoyed seeing parents get their pantys all in a bunch over what were really fairly inocuous commercials, we have to wonder about the latest batch. The particular ad we're reviewing today is black and white, and features a man walking back and forth, and talking about a girl he hardly knows but who he would do anything for.

So what we have is a bizarre commercial, which naturally doesnt' say anything about the product itself, and which leaves you with an e-mail address. So, like the sheep I must be, I e-mailed the address they gave. The text of my email is below:

To: robert@ckone.com
From: cynics 
Subject: WTF

Please tell me what that commercial was supposed to be about.

Nice jacket.

Ask and ye shall receive. I won't reprint Robert's reply, but it was obviously an automatically generated e-mail. Sending a message as I did puts you on some sort of list. The e-mail I received gave background on the character in the commercial, and who the chick he was obsessing over is. Interestingly enough, there's no mention of CK One.

Now cynical.com does not approve of unsolicited e-mail, and sending one message in our opinion does not count as soclicitation. However, in the message that we received, there was no advertising. It will be interesting to see whether "Robert" decides to don some CK One before his first date with "Tia".

Mind you, we aren't sucked in to this pseudo-drama, we are merely interested, in a scholarly sense, how this novel advertising concept will play out.

But back to the commercial itself. It must be at least partially successful, since it anticipated that I would send e-mail to the address they mentioned, though I wonder how many other people would really do that. It is also weird enough to have made me do so, but on the other hand, I was left with that "What the Hell?" feeling after watching the commercial.

Rating: 20 seconds. While I can't say I particularly liked this commercial, it has provided me with a certain amount of entertainment.

Conclusion: Since the above is more than 15 seconds, I am forced to recommend you Buy CK One, regardless of the fact that cat piss smells better.

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