Censored by the Fashion Police

I'm no style maven; my fashion sense runs toward jeans and Keens and no makeup (well, maybe once in a great while). But I do know what makes good advertising, and that's an ad that makes you makes you laugh out loud, cry, get outraged or simply think. In other words, good advertising should engage your emotions in a direct way.

When I got the assignment from my brother, who owns a wine shop in Sellwood called Vino, to create an ad that was edgy and "out there" for the a local designer rag shop's 300-page paean to fashion called the Mario's Forum catalog, I said, "No problem!" This is the kind of challenge that a creative ad-type like me salivates over. So I decided to talk about what the fashion business and the wine business have in common: Labels.

I quickly put together a concept and sent it off for approval. It came back almost instantly with exclamation points and words like, "Holy crap!" and "Wow!" and "I love it!" The next day Mario's called and said they wouldn't run it because they found it inappropriate and felt their clients would, as well. What a shame!