good kid, m.A.A.d city
10-year anniversary box
Year
2022
As part of my Independent Project at university, I had to create a practical project which linked to my dissertation essay. The essay question that I picked was titled "Can subliminal messages benefit the marketing industry and music artists?".
​
I created a 10-year anniversary bundle box for Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city album. This box includes an exclusive vinyl cover which features multiple subliminal messages for the listeners of the album to uncover.
The box includes some merchandise such as a t-shirt, poster, cap and stickers to live up to the price. Moreover, I created a magazine-style booklet explaining the album's story for the fans to get a clear insight into the album's details.
To complement the box, I created a social media 'easter egg' campaign consisting of 4 posts made by 'Kendrick Lamar', eventually leading to the purchase the box.
Bundle Box, Vinyl Cover, Merchandise (T-shirt, Cap, Poster, Stickers), Booklet Magazine, Social Media Teaser Campaign
Click On The Box
Social Media Teaser Campaign
The idea behind these next posts is to excite fans and get them to engage with the album's anniversary. The first 3 posts will encode the phrase “10 year anniversary, good kid, maad city” in a subliminal way. However the 4th will direct the fan to the website where they can purchase the bundle box
Post 1 - 10 year anniversary
Post 2 – Good kid
Post 3 – Maad CITY
Post 4 – Product Website Link
First Teaser Post - The ransom cut-outs of the roman numerals spell out "10 year anniversary" if you convert the number to a letter. (e.g Letter Y = 25 as it's the 25th letter of the alphabet. 25 in roman numerals is 'XXV'.
Ervin Aryans = Anagram for 'Anniversary'
Second Teaser Post
For the second post, I wanted to drop more hints about this specific album’s anniversary. In one of Kendrick’s songs “poetic justice,” he says “If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?”
This line encapsulates the concept of a 'good kid' in a bad city, and it cuts into one of the most moral questions in human existence: Can good come from evil? The best part about the line, as is true of the best poetry, is that it doesn’t answer the question it asks. For Kendrick’s immediate purposes, he’s the flower and the city is the dark room.
Third Teaser Post - The third post is linking to the other half of the album titles name ‘M.A.A.D CITY’. I created an illustrated scene of what appears to be Kendrick driving in his mum's van (that we see on the deluxe cover) into the city (M.A.A.D CITY).
The image includes hints for example in the background you can just about see the city that appears on the album cover, the car freshener is a pump shotgun which Kendrick mentions a lot during the album, and a silhouette picture of him and 'Sherane' who is a big part of the album. This was made a silhouette for the fans to go searching for the original photo which will then make it obvious that it’s the good kid-mad city. In the reflection mirror, I’ve placed a car with the number plate ‘X YEAR’ which hints at the album’s anniversary.
The car stereo displays the new album cover however it's cut out on purpose so that it’s not exposed too much but enough to get the fans guessing. Furthermore, the post title is a direct quote from the song ‘M.A.A.D CITY”.
Last Teaser Post - The final post is on the day of the 10 year anniversary 22nd of October. I decided to make a whiskey bottle which includes the QR code for the website where you can buy the Anniversary box. The QR code has a cross symbol that links to the bottle name holy water.
The label name ‘Kendricks Holy Water’ is inspired by the song Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst. In that song’s skit, the woman is saying the gang need holy water so that they better themselves. This also refers to the fans that they need this product (promoting the box).
In the song swimming pools, he mentions that he comes from a house that drinks a lot hence the whiskey bottle. Also in the music video at one point he sits on a chair with a whiskey bottle next to him.
(The website is up and when you scan the qr code it takes you to the homepage)
The Website
