joggers, college kids: get on the inside track

sell your chest space; identify with your class; be the cutting edge as you run through the park wearing your free gift!
note the entrepreneurial thread following Scott's post, particularly this tidbit:

"I was one of those people who thought they would never wear stuff with their employer's logo on it - but I have to admit slowly and surely, branded items have crept into all aspects of my desk, wardrobe, home, and even my car!! It's insidious because you really can't turn down a free, useful item, right?"

The signs of corporate culture have been thoroughly deterritorialized, launched into the ether of circulation (quantity of signs, or the a-signifiers of advertising language: apparently the ad can precede the company or even be it). The sacred is no longer what contaminates, the profane is contagious. Department store wardrobe administration is only the underdeveloped form of the "free gift" of the corporate tee--the total liberation of managerial life-style signification from the 9 to 5. Jogger-/ gym-wear is a particular site of this lifestyle camaraderie. 1983's "The Big Chill": Kevin Kline strikes an insider deal with William Hurt during the morning jog; upon returning home, Kline promptly orders Nike's for all his fellow class warriors "chilling" for the weekend. Forrest Gump articulates this baby-boomer tendency as well. Even his jog cannot resist the sign.