A GIGANTIC BALL OF YARN HAS BEEN ROLLING AROUND SAN FRANCISCO, distinct for the pair of sneakers sticking out of it.
There’s even an accompanying YouTube video, which is where Miss Jo first spotted the red blob rolling haltingly down steep hills and a cement staircase before unraveling down the slopes of Dolores Park where its contents tumbles out: a dude in jeans and t-shirt, wearing a helmet and red-rimmed sunglasses.
Obviously staged, Miss Jo wondered what message she was missing.
Solving the mystery took one Google search.
The yarn ball’s unspoken message: buy Ray Ban’s new Colorized sunglasses, $110-$140, in a traditional squarish frame. Not surprisingly, the video was made by Ray Ban’s marketing division to create buzz to sell shades.
Sales could use a lift. Luxottica Group, the Italian eye glass company that owns Ray Ban, reported a 22.5 percent drop in first-quarter net profit to 80.4 million euros, or $104.5 million U.S. In addition to owning the eyeglass licenses for Donna Karan, Prada, Chanel and other designers, Luxottica owns Sunglass Hut and Pearle Eyevision eyeglass retail chains.
It seemed appropriate to Miss Jo that as retail sales unravel during the recession, the company has turned to an unraveling yarn ball to get consumers spending again. But maybe that’s the point: while you might be losing the sweater off your back from a job layoff, you haven’t lost your ability to be cool— and hand over $140 for sunglasses to ensure your hipness.
Regardless of the economy, what you can count on is iconic San Francisco as a popular backdrop for advertising, viral or otherwise.
Miss Jo has seen Fed Ex workers filmed running through Union Square with delivery boxes and a swarm of motor scooters covered in red dots for Target buzzing through downtown. Soon after she moved to the City, the steep Fillmore Street hill in Pacific Heights was covered in 200 tonnes of snow on an 80-degree day for a Lake Tahoe ski jump promotion.
The Ray Ban ball also isn’t the first to bounce down San Francisco streets. Three years ago Sony filmed a commercial using hundreds of super bouncing balls.
Here are both videos: