MAGAZINES : A New Page in Advertising

“We briefly considered running an eight-page ad with half-naked models, shot by a famous photographer in some exotic location” reads the simple note scrawled on personalized stationery in Kenneth Cole ads featured in M, Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair magazines.

Could the trendy shoemaker be referring to Calvin Klein’s 116-page advertising insert shot by Bruce Weber for Vanity Fair? Or is he taking aim at supermodel Claudia Schiffer doing her best Brigitte Bardot pout for Guess photographer Ellen Von Unwerth?

“It’s a jab at Calvin and Guess, yes,” Cole says. “And everyone else doing that kind of ad. Since I’m in the industry, in essence it’s also a jab at myself. The point is this kind of advertising is not appropriate anymore. . . . As a consumer, I almost became offended by it.”

Paul Wilmot, senior vice president of public relations for Calvin Klein, declined to comment on Cole’s ads. But he did say Calvin Klein jeans sales, in selected markets, have been up 30%. “The style of our ads may look the same,” he says. “But the concept is always different.”

Cole’s ad is not without its own hidden message. “There is a ‘but’ at the end of the ad,” Cole says. “But it’s left for the reader to conclude on his own.”

The next ad, he says, will require less effort of its audience. Also written on Cole stationery, it’s a simple checklist of things to do today--including “do an ad.”