Harvey Nichols: Fun For Fashionistas

London-based Harvey Nichols launches a charming print campaign that plays off their line of fashion accessories. The campaign includes six print ads, but two particularly struck my fancy.

In the first ad, Harvey Nichols warns you to buy a bottle of altitude sickness pills if you buy their leopard print mega-high heal shoes. With spikes this high, you may just need those pills.

If you buy the stylish coat pictured in ad #2, a can of pepper spray is suggested to ward off all the admirers that will flock to your side.

In case you are not particularly familiar with Harvey Nichols (as I was not), a look at their website quickly educates you on one clear fact: their designer clothes and accessories are not cheap.  A pair of high heeled leopard shoes ring up at 600 pounds, roughly $967.  And a coat that's similar to the one shown in the ad - about $959. Clearly, they're out of my league.

But, the high prices of their clothing and accessories only make this irreverent ad campaign all the more alluring to me. The playfulness of the ads suggests that Harvey doesn't take themselves too seriously; in a word, they're not fashion snobs. 

Something tells me that if I was playing in the same league as them, I might just be intrigued enough to take a gander through their stores ... online, of course, since I don't often find myself in London!

Unexpected Change?

The New York Times does not predict a rock star world tour for President Obama during his upcoming trip to Europe:

Despite his immense popularity around the world, Mr. Obama will confront resentment over American-style capitalism and resistance to his economic prescriptions when he lands in London on Tuesday for the Group of 20 summit meeting of industrial and emerging market nations plus the European Union.

The president will not even try to overcome NATO’s unwillingness to provide more troops in Afghanistan when he goes on later in the week to meet with the military alliance.

He seems unlikely to return home with any more to show for his attempts to open a dialogue with Iran’s leaders, who have, so far, responded with tough words, albeit not tough enough to persuade Russia to support the United States in tougher sanctions against Tehran. And he will be tested in face-to-face meetings by the leaders of China and Russia, who have been pondering the degree to which the power of the United States to dominate global affairs may be ebbing.

Mr. Obama is unlikely to push for specific commitments from other countries on stimulus spending to bolster their own economies, White House officials acknowledged Saturday in a teleconference call, despite the fact that administration officials would like to see European countries, in particular, increase their spending to try to prompt a global economic recovery.

Update: The Washington Post has a similar take.