| PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Jay Critchley
|
||
 |
|
|
| TRANSAMERICA - CONDOMS WITH A CONSCIENCE Provincetown, MA. The Old Glory Condoms Corporation- Worn with pride country-wide has announced its latest safer sex project - the recreation of San Francisco’s landmark corporate symbol, the Transamerica Building, with Old Glory’s controversial logo - an unfurled condom imprinted with the American Flag. The 36” tall scale model, Transamerica - Condoms with a Conscience, will be unveiled by founder and CEO Jay Critchley on Friday, March 30 at 7:00 pm at The LAB, 2948 16th Street at Capp Street, San Francisco, California. The opening reception for the group show, Corporate Art Expo ’07 (see below), curated by Shane Montgomery, runs from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The public is invited. “This show is an opportune time for Old Glory Condoms to initiate a public dialogue on the role of global corporations in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” states Critchley, who founded the patriotic company in 1989 at MIT. Its application for a US Trademark was originally denied because “…it is immoral and scandalous to associate the flag with sex” (see below). After a three year legal battle the trademark was granted for the name and the logo (see below). Old Glory Condom Corporation - Condoms with a Conscience Jay Critchley, Founder and CEO Old Glory was launched in 1989 at MIT List Visual Arts Center, inspired by Bush I and the US Congress’ attempt to amend the Constitution to ban flag desecration, and the invisibility of HIV/AIDS in the government. Although I had often utilized the corporate structure to create a media platform for ideas and interventions, Old Glory was the real thing - shareholders and marketable products. It received international media coverage including a piece in Newsweek and later in Playboy, which elicited 400 responses! My strategy was to challenge the government’s silence and redefine patriotism - it’s patriotic to protect and save lives. My US Trademark application was rejected as “immoral and scandalous to associate the flag with sex,” but the Center for Constitutional Rights’ lawyer, David Cole, represented me pro bono, and we won a three-year legal battle. A front page story in the Washington Post and a feature in People followed. As a business, it was less successful because the FDA did not approve multi-colored condoms over a concern for the effect of inks on latex. Our successful Latex is 4 Lovers campaign brought attention to lambskin condoms’ ineffective prevention of HIV transmission. Senator Jesse Helms, ironically, created the first global safer sex ad, holding up the Old Glory logo in the Senate on CNN, denouncing the trademark designation. Old Glory is now in standard law school textbooks on trademark, copyright and patent law. Long May It Wave. The LAB presents: Corporate Art Expo '07 Curated by Shane Montgomery March 30 April 28, 2007 Opening Reception: Friday, March 30 from 6-9 PM Gallery Hours: Wednesdays to Saturdays, 1-6 PM This event takes place at The LAB, 2948 16th Street @ Capp, San Francisco Featuring the Anti-Advertising Agency, Acclair, C5 Corporation, Davis & Davis Research, Meaning Maker, My Death and Taxes, Old Glory Condom Corp., PP Valise, SubRosa, Slop Art, TDirt, Tectonic Corporation, and We Are War Over the last few years, a new group of artists have emerged that package themselves as corporate entities. They develop a company name, a branding scheme, and utilize the language of advertising and marketing. These individual artists and collectives create art objects, marketing materials, and performative event-based pieces that can exist in a gallery setting as well as in the public sphere. Much of this work centers around issues of capitalism and consumerism. By putting this work within the context of fictional products or alternative services, we are able to engage in a more enhanced conversation around topics ranging from globalization, immigration reform, and health care in a way that is whimsical and visually inspiring. Products on view include: psychological prosthetics, self-help services, psycho-geographic mapping, research and development services, neurotransmitter security services, safety educational materials, and product placement services. The LAB, a project of The art re grüp, Inc., is supported in part by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; Puffin Foundation Ltd.; Rainbow Grocery Cooperative; San Francisco Publicity and Advertising Fund's Hotel Tax/Grants for the Arts program; The San Francisco Foundation; The San Francisco Arts Commission?s Cultural Equity Grants Program; Zellerbach Family Fund; and members and volunteers of The LAB. . |
||