Idolator: Plain White T's

Hey There Bad Fashion, What's It Like At Kohl's?

Kate Richardson — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Ever wonder what it's like to write a saccharine-sweet acoustic guitar pop song comparing a girl you allegedly like to the consumerist cesspool that is Times Square, then be destined never to match its success again? Well, if you're a 13-year-old boy at the mercy of your well-meaning mother, you can now approximate this experience by shopping at Kohl's, which now has via the Plain White T's-inspired clothing line Urban Pipeline on its racks. Part of the same cringe-worthy campaign as the hoodie-stricken Avril line ("Inspired by the artists...worn by you"), the Plain White T's line features only the finest in bro training wear, plus the obligatory formal t-shirt.

I've assembled an outfit from the Urban Pipeline section of Kohl's Web site. Just imagine you're a young man gearing up for the first day of 8th grade, and you're determined to express that you're serious about acoustic melodies.

First you put on your shirt.

It's plain, it's white, it's 100% non-threatening and blandly appealing. Perfect.

Now your shorts.

Camo conveys strength. You're a man despite your wimpy music.

You always get cold while sitting in class, so you make sure to put on your new hoodie.

It says, "Hey, I want to be Pete Wentz."

And, finally, you wouldn't want to be ill-prepared in case of a sudden extreme sports situation, so you grab your new shades.

Rockin'.

Now you're all set to appeal to girls, sensitive boys, and total bros who occasionally like a break from Nickleback. But what about formal dances? Dude, got you covered:

This is the signature Plain White T's shirt in the collection. Your mom thought it was cute.

Back To School 2008 [Kohl's]
New Kohls clothing line is inspired by famous artists [Dayton Daily News]
Earlier: Avril Lavigne's Clothing Line Just As Awkwardly Punk Rock As Its Designer

Heart-Shaped Pancakes And White Chocolate Everywhere: Idolator Samples Denny's Musician-Inspired Offerings

Maura Johnston — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

We've reported earlier on Denny's attempt to reach out to the kids by inviting bands to design menu items, throwing Warped Tour afterparties, and playing alt-rock over the loudspeakers during the late-night hours. But since there's no outpost of the 24-hour chain diner nearby, we couldn't experience the marketing magic for ourselves—until last night, when the Idolator braintrust got invited to an event spotlighting the items on what Denny's is calling its Rock Star Menu. Unfortunately the Metropolitan Pavilion didn't have red plastic booths installed for the festivities (Denny's-branded placemats would have to suffice), it was early evening and not the wee hours of the morning, and I was drinking rum-spiked Diet Dr Pepper instead of the virginal version that I'd normally be served. But otherwise former Denny's beat reporter Anthony Miccio and I felt like we'd been transported back to the suburbs, complete with "Toxic" playing at top volume over the PA and me nearly choking on an onion ring. After the jump, our overall impressions of the menu's musician-designed foodstuffs.

All-American S.O.S. (All-American Rejects)
Sausage gravy, Texas toast, and what seemed to be a cheeseburger.
Sadly, it wasn't available for sampling, although that's probably a good thing given that I probably would have had an on-premises heart attack.

Plain White Shake (Plain White T's)
Vanilla ice cream, cheesecake, white chocolate; topped with graham cracker shavings.
My favorite item of the evening, even with the presence of white chocolate. Although this could be because I've been having a serious dairy jones lately.

Taking Back Bacon Burger Fries (Taking Back Sunday)
The makings of a bacon cheeseburger spilled all over French fries.
Let's just say that when I woke up this morning, I was really wishing that I'd had a plate of these before I went to bed. (Fries with mozzerella melted on top would have also sufficed. Oh man. Must... resist... urge to place SeamlessWeb order...)

Heart On A Plate Pancakes (Eagles of Death Metal, whose name was shortened to "EoDM" on the promotional flats, presumably because of the whole death thing)
Heart-shaped pancakes on top of chocolate sauce, covered in raspberry sauce and white chocolate chips. (What is up with white chocolate and this menu?)
Very, very sweet—the small version that was being served at the event seemed like more than enough. Apparently on the menu these are served with bacon and eggs, which could serve as something of a savory corrective, I suppose.
Anthony said: "I'm concerned that the Heart On A Plate pancakes as we had them couldn't possibly replicated by the cooks at any Denny's I've ever been to. I've never had pancakes that light at any actual Denny's. For that reason I'm guessing the Plain White Shake will the best future offering on the rock star menu (they're dishing out one a month) that is pretty guaranteed to taste good when you order it. That said, if the Heart On A Plate is pulled off across the U.S., I hope "EoDM" get a few CDs up at the counter because they're sure to sell a couple. Unless Christian groups discover a band with songs like "Kiss The Devil" is working with Dennys. I wonder if Billy Corgan will try to sue for copyright infringement? He invented the heart!"

Apparently Boys Like Girls are next on the docket. They're designing an egg dish! Which seems personally appropriate, since I am as "meh" about eggs as I am about Boys Like Girls.

Denny's All Nighter [Official site]
[Pic via Dennys All Nighter]

Denny's All Nighter Campaign Continues To Be Totally Surreal

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:45:00 EDT

Soon, your visit to Denny's will allow you to enjoy heart-shaped pancakes from the Eagles of Death Metal and milkshakes conceived by the Plain White T's thanks to the eatery's ever-evolving All Nighter campaign, which hopes to bring a "rock edge" to the restaurant during the wee hours. Restaurants will play nothing but alt-rock and the waitstaff will trade its regular uniforms for T-shirts and jeans! Suck on that, Waffle House!

Denny's will "rock" again. The beloved diner chain is undergoing some kind of a Pete Wentzification to appeal to young poppy punk types. To get its median age down below the speed limit, it is undertaking a Denny's All Nighter promo, and grandpa's Muzak will be swapped for alt rock from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Also added for the wee hours for the wee ones: a dimly lit club ambience and a waitstaff that will swap black slacks and collared shirts for T-shirts and . . . dungarees!

The venture involves a menu that only a stoner on a crash diet could love. On it are Potachos ("Dude, it's like french fries married nachos and had an awesome baby!") and Sweet Ride Nachos (cinnamon sugar chips, hot fudge and whipped cream). Do not—repeat—do NOT stand between a stoner and his nachos.

But wait, there's more. The All Nighter effort features a music blog and social networking. An "Adopt-A-Band" program lets visitors choose which emerging touring bands should get promotional support and free food from the company. OK, that's pretty cool, especially if Denny's is making sure that skinny emo boys are eating their vegetables. More than 1 million votes have been cast so far.

As a long-time supporter of Denny's late-night menu, I will note that the last thing the restaurant is interested in is making sure that people eat their vegetables. While much of this ad campaign seems ridiculous, I'm glad to see Denny's appreciates the congregations of drunk college students and wishing-they-were-drunk high schoolers who stumble in long after the dinner crowd has left. The latter especially deserve a place they can congregate, with most suburban areas losing any semblance of a downtown. And hey, a kid eating Sweet Ride Nachos is a kid not screaming from inside a Wal-Mart shopping cart being hurled across the parking lot. Unless they do both.

The All-American Rejects In Denny's [YouTube]
Denny's: Crush With Guyliner [Brandweek via AdFreak]

The Plain White T's Muse Speaks: What She Really Wants To Do Is Run

Maura Johnston — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:15:56 EST

This morning, Today sat down for a chat with Delilah DiCrescenzo, the young Olympic hopeful who inspired the Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah" and who'll be attending the Grammys next month as lead singer Tom Higginson's date. Even though she has a boyfriend! Who, she claims in her delay-plagued chat with Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer, is actually completely fine with her going on said date, although one wonders how much he was gritting his teeth when he reiterated that fact. DiCrescenzo is, bless her heart, saying that her Grammy appearance will be a good opportunity for her to humanize track and field before this summer's Olympics in Beijing, although one does wonder if her definition of "humanize" means, in part, "getting a sweet correspondent's gig if the whole running thing doesn't work out come Olympic Trials time."

"USA Today" Readers Turn Innocuous News Item Into Yet Another Battleground Of The Sexes

Maura Johnston — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:30:27 EST

Today's bit of Grammy-related news that isn't related to the writers' strike: The lead singer of the Plain White T's has a date to the Feb. 10 awards show, and it's none other than the titular lady from the band's inescapable hit "Hey There Delilah." OK, OK, it's not really news per se, but it is a sorta-heartwarming story (as long as you forget about the whole "wait, so he's crossing the picket line too?" thing). But the comment section attached to the USA Today story on the couple's first date has turned into a heated discussion of whether or not Delilah is really going to the Grammys for the right reasons.

The opening salvo kept it classy, as always:

Harniss wrote: 12h 4m ago
Wow that dude is ugly...

And then the slightly sexist speculation followed! If you want to crank up "Gold Digger" while you're reading the following posts, by all means please do.

IndaGaddaDavida wrote: 9h 44m ago
I hope she didn't say "yes" because now he's famous and has money. That's kind of sad. I think he should invite someone gorgeous and call that chickie back and say "Hey there Delilah, I'm takin someone better thank you to the Grammy's."

HSY wrote: 4h 37m ago
An ugly man looks beautiful when he's rich and famous. I'm sure Delilah is out to profit off a song named after him. What better way than to go on a date in the a highly public event with cameras and media around. You wouldn't think she would have said yes to a date at the local steakhouse without media around. Better hope the writers strike doesn't afffect the grammy or Delilah will actually have to go on a date with him.

And if you thought that was cynical, wait until you see missjudy, who thinks that this is all—heavens!—a marketing stunt for a song whose song has already garnered enough publicity to last at least five news cycles!

missjudy wrote: 3h 8m ago
Tom, congrats on finding someone named Delilah to publicize your song.. Guess I am really a meanie because I am not buying this story at all. But, hey, you both got your picture in USA Today.

Indeed they did. And you got your comment reprinted on a Web site! Everybody wins!

Finally, a true fan weighs in:

djekrmcm13 wrote: 10m ago I have read stories on these two, and they have been friends for a long time, she just really wasnt interested.........and I am happy for him, but I cant help but say that shes in it for the grammys. If she really liked him she would have fell for him when he wrote her that song. I know I would have.

Aww, is that a proposition? Here's a hint: Change your name to something that rhymes with a word that isn't djekrmcm13 and you may, some day, get a song of your own dedicated to you.

Plain White T's singer lands a date with Delilah [USA Today]

Plain White T's Show No Mercy, Plan To Continue Making Music

Kate Richardson — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:25:36 EST

The Plain White T's will stop at nothing to emote, and apaprently they're just getting the sensitive-dude party started. The band is putting out a new album in 2008 featuring such doomed singles as "Not 'Hey There Delilah'" and "Wait, Come Back, We'll Sing 'Hey There Delilah' for You," and Billboard is not afraid to bust out its creakiest music writing for the occasion.

Global domination and making a new album are on the docket for Plain White T's in 2008.

First sentence out of the gate and the Plain White T's have already been declared despots of the free world. It's not looking good, Billboard. On to the boring lead singer quotes!

"We're possibly bigger in the U.K. than we are in American now," Higgenson tells Billboard.com. "It's still fresh over there. We're going over to headline 2,000-seaters, which will be great."

The classic "But we were so big in the U.K." argument. If it doesn't work for actually-good acts like The Spinto Band, it's definitely not going to work for you, Plain White T's.

"We've always had acoustic songs on our albums," Higgenson notes. "Those are some of my favorite songs to write and some of the band's best songs. Now that 'Delilah' was so successful, we won't be as afraid to include a few more of those on the next album. I definitely think there will be some more acoustic stuff... and the rockin' stuff will be more rockin' than it's ever been."

But, Higgenson adds, he's not worried about typecasting Plain White T's as a ballad band.

Translation: We're going to try to write as many sappy acoustic ballads as is humanly possible. Because when The Plain White T's aren't evoking such erudite imagery as Times Square, they're mouthbreathing over electric guitars, and it's not pretty:

Bookmark this post and come back to it in a year. If The Plain White T's are still achieving radio success, I'll write a public apology.

Plain White T's Writing for Next Album [Billboard.com]