184 Kent Almost Done, Painful Marketing Underway

Curbed brings us the good and perhaps not-so-good news about 184 Kent Avenue, the former warehouse near North 4th Street slated for luxury loft rentals. So the good news is that even though the project won't be complete by summer's end as originally projected, it is moving along and will probably be wrapped by autumn. The possibly bad news, depending on whom you ask, is 184 Kent's choice of marketing campaign: Williamsburg Love, a mock hipster dating site. Take a look and watch the lives of Wenda and Branston, two hipster stereotypes come to life. Ouch. GMAP
Like it or Not, Love is in the Air at Williamsburg's 184 Kent [Curbed]
Austin, Nichols Sorta Landmarked Post-Renovation [Brownstoner]
The Conversion of 184 Kent Avenue Marches On [Brownstoner]

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Comments

Wow - that video is pretty freakin funny.

"I wanted to do art and live off the L" hahah!

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 7, 2009 11:08 AM

please tell me this is total spoof. please? hahahah. no wonder most people detest anything off the L

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 7, 2009 11:19 AM

Um...um...I'm at a loss for words. It's kinda funny, but I wouldn't be surprised if they took some heat for this.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at August 7, 2009 11:23 AM

That was really funny.
As a marketing campaign, I think It's great.

Posted by: Susan Elkins at August 7, 2009 11:24 AM

apparently 184 kent is in a good location, a short drive from Warwick, RI (as per the gmap link)

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 7, 2009 11:28 AM

OMG, this is hilarious. Reminds me of Arrested Development and also that famed YouTube series The Burg.

There have been other attempts to sell Williamsburg real estate in this vein, except they were entirely serious. You may remember the subway poster campaign that extolled the virtues of living among hasids and hipsters. The other one (may have been Bushwick) featured a girl mooning about on a balcony with a guitar talking about how she loves having space to create art.

Posted by: mopar at August 7, 2009 11:37 AM

that guy's haircut is way to precise for him to be a hipster. the back of his neck is shaved even!

Posted by: wine lover at August 7, 2009 11:46 AM

isnt "branston" a type of english pickle?

Posted by: goldie at August 7, 2009 11:52 AM

"I got hit pretty hard at a Thermals show"

haha!!

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 7, 2009 11:53 AM

lol

Curbed was so fun back when they allowed guest commenting. Now it is so dull.

They lost about 98% of their comments since the switch. I'm surprised they haven't given up and allowed guest commenting again.

Brownstoner got more comments on this in an hour than Curbed got in 21 hours...

Posted by: northsloperenter at August 7, 2009 12:22 PM

oh i know i seriously LOVED curb's comments. most of it was trash, but now there's like 0 comments per thread. why didnt they switch back? it doesnt make any sense.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 7, 2009 12:29 PM

The video is priceless. Wenda reminds me of a young Elaine May. In one shot, Branston appears to be spraying her with Febreze. For another classic hatin'-on-hipsters, don't forget "Hipster Olympics," a Wmsburg homage to the Pythons' Upper Class Twit sketch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAO4EVMlpwM

Of course, how this would actually sell you on living in Williamsburg I can't fathom...

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at August 7, 2009 12:30 PM

I was expecting the video and website to be lame, but it was quite creative and funny.

Posted by: Biff Champion at August 7, 2009 12:36 PM

"Wenda and Branston"

HA! Brilliant. Where is The What when you need him? This would put him into full rant mode. Very well done. The actress is excellent.

Posted by: East New York at August 7, 2009 12:52 PM

"oh i know i seriously LOVED curb's comments. most of it was trash, but now there's like 0 comments per thread. "

Yeah, it's kind of sad what happened to them.

They got 3 lame comments on this post:

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/08/07/bond_streets_golden_dancers_doomed_by_charlatans.php

If that were posted here it would be good for 100 or so. That 3rd picture (""The biggest beast on Bond Street.") would probably account for at least 30 or so all by itself.

Posted by: northsloperenter at August 7, 2009 1:08 PM

OMG, Wenda and Branston. Hilarious, ENY.

Posted by: mopar at August 7, 2009 4:26 PM

Curious to see how much these rentals actually go for. That'll be a good barometer for where things are heading (at least in the rental market)

Posted by: dirty_hipster at August 7, 2009 4:28 PM

"Brownstoner got more comments on this in an hour than Curbed got in 21 hours..."

I think the humor of this story/video is lost on Curbed.

Posted by: cheeseburger at August 7, 2009 9:52 PM