Nina (a returning MMW guest contributor!)
In the August issue of Vogue and probably a host of other fashion mags, music legend Quincy Jones and model Molly Sims appear in the new Jimmy Choo ad campaign (you can also check out the images at www.jimmychoo.com). The shoot was directed by Brett Ratner of “Rush Hour” fame so there is a movie feel to the campaign. Initially I was excited about the interracial pairing but what message is the ad trying to convey? The photos are shot in the desert and Quincy and Molly seem to be on the run. In one photo it actually looks like Molly Sims is dead in the trunk of the car and Quincy is digging her grave! Another shows the car in flames. Is this what you get for being an interracial couple? Not only does the campaign have me scratching my head, but so do comments found after a quick internet search.

From WWD.com:

…(the ad features)the unlikely pair of Molly Sims and Quincy Jones . Sims plays an undercover detective wearing bold patent leather totes and sky-high heels, while an elusive Jones lurks close by.

Why is the pairing unlikely? Because he is old and she is young? No that’s pretty normal in the entertainment world. Perhaps it is because he is in the music business and she is a model? But again pretty normal. Could it be that he is a tad overweight and she is model thin? Doubt it. Even Brett Ratner, the director of the ad campaign, dated Serena Williams and God knows that they have totally opposite body types! More after the jump…

Oh yeah it must be unlikely because he is black and she is white? Yeah that must be it. I guess WWD does not realize that Quincy has been with attractive white women for years. His wives/lovers/baby mothers include Ulla Anderson, Peggy Lipton and Nastassia Kinski. Furthermore, WWD describes Sims as a bold detective while Jones lurks? Huh? What was the storyline again?

And here is another bit from Pierce Mattie Public Relations’ blog:

The most recent “theme” is distressing to say the least. Quincy Jones, while a genius in his own right, is just not sexy. There is no interaction or connection of note between him and a dead model in the trunk of a car. How can one envy her and want her shoes? She was murdered, and not by Robert DeNiro or Joe Pesce (which would have made for a more compelling campaign), but by Quincy Jones, the guy behind “We Are The World” circa 1985.

Quincy Jones is “ just not sexy” yet the world falls all over Sean Connery who is three years older! And is murder “more compelling” when committed by a white Italian?

Many of you will say lighten up, and I will as soon as there is a multitude of ads featuring mixed race couples, evoking beauty, love and straight up fashion, and not exoticism, violence, submission etc.