I’m Steve. And this is my workspace.
Wrapping the new office around my head
It’s my third day at MADE and I’m starting to settle into this new office. At first it was a little tight, disrupting an otherwise handsome hairdo, but I think I’ve found the optimal strap position.
My office, incidentally, is a pair of high-end, Grado, headphones. Standard-issue for everyone who joins the MADE movement. Later in this post, I’ll argue that this headgear has supernatural powers. But, first, some context.
MADE corporate headquarters is alive, open and growing. A raw space that’s built to foster collaboration and typically filled with a steady hum of hustle and construction. As productivity sometimes demands peace, we find refuge in the portable enclave of our listening devices.
This is by no means standard audio technology. MADE, walking the proverbial walk, has armed us with Grado Prestige SR125 headphones. For almost 60 years, Grado Labs has been manufacturing some of the finest audio equipment in the world. Their painstaking attention to detail delivers a truly sublime listening experience. What’s more, they, like me, Jay-Z and Biggie (RIP), represent Brooklyn, New York.
Now I’m pretty sure these headphones are doing more than just reproducing frequencies and cancelling out background noise. Some serendipitous shit is going down around me, suggesting cosmic side effects.
Never before have I seen so much eye contact. It’s at once creepy and wonderfully refreshing. To command attention, instead of knocking on nonexistent doors or picking up phones, we flail our limbs in foolish, awkward and exaggerated ways. And you’ll notice people slowly and melodramatically place their headphones over their ears, as if to say “I’m not listening to you anymore.”
Overall, they’re bringing us together at a remarkable pace. Blurring boundaries and squashing comfort zones.
So I say that, even if the distractions around us subside, we continue to wear our headphones with pride. As modern headdresses for a tribe of people who give a damn. Loyal to this movement.
This 1918 lithograph promoted WWI war bonds. In 2012 we’re hoping you’ll invest in the fight for domestic manufacturing.
Invest!
We’ve found some weird stuff in our new space. The old tenant was an antique collector, and we keep stumbling across things left behind in the move—an 1879 edition of Crofutt’s New Overland Tourist Guide, some vintage horse tack that probably saw use on the Oregon Trail, and the latest bit of chronological flotsam, a 1918 poster printed by the Strobridge Lithography Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, promoting the sale of US government bonds during World War I. The poster is emblazoned with a large “V” for victory, accompanied by one word: Invest.
It seemed like a fitting thing to display, since we’ve been looking for both financial benefactors (got a few) and clients (stay tuned) to invest in our fight. Plus, we know beneath whatever work we do will lie the same unspoken pitch to everyday people all over the country: Invest in America.
So the question is, why should you? What are the reasons to buy American?
There have been entire books dedicated to this subject, and it’s tempting to give a protracted answer. But in the interest of time, we’ll keep it short.
When you buy something made in America, a bunch of good stuff happens. You support existing American jobs, and potentially help create new ones. And you know the workers in those jobs have good, safe conditions. Then there’s the fact that the money you spend fuels other parts of the US economy. And the planet is better off, because whatever you buy is made in accordance with EPA regulations, not to mention you avoid the Yeti-sized carbon footprint that results when things are shipped across oceans and continents. Buying American lets you tick all those other boxes, but maybe the most important reason to buy American is because it’s the best stuff out there. Despite the stigma of the late 70s and 1980s, today’s American-made products rate consistently higher in quality than stuff from overseas, meaning you’ll be getting something super cool out of the deal, too.
OK, that’s our schpiel. Here’s hoping you Invest.
A Toyota made in Indiana is good for America.
Today Scott, John and I were interviewed by Brain, a Tokyo-based creative magazine. It’s hard to miss the irony of an agency dedicated to American manufacturing being approached by an Asian publication, and we had to laugh at the idea of MADE blowing up in Japan. But soon after the interview began, the reporter asked us an interesting question: would we ever want to help a Japanese brand that made something in America? Our answer was a resounding YES.
There’s a reason other countries do everything they can to lure manufacturers to their shores. It’s called the multiplier effect (something we referenced in our last blog post). What it means, in short, is that manufacturing jobs generate almost twice as much money for an economy as service jobs. So when a company designs something in one place and manufactures it in another, the latter location gets roughly double the economic boost. In America’s case, it’s usually us designing things, and other countries enjoying the benefits of manufacturing them. But sometimes the reverse is true. My everyday vehicle is a 2003 Toyota Tundra. Though I had no idea when I bought it (in fact, I had no idea until I checked the door frame about 20 minutes ago), my Tundra was built in a factory in Princeton, Indiana. A factory that happens to employ 4,000 workers, all of whom contribute to the local, and national economy.
And, since R&D usually follows manufacturing (innovation of a product is inextricably tied to the making of the product itself), Toyota has established an R&D presence in Erlanger, Kentucky, closer to its US factories. That means jobs for American engineers, too, and a continuum in America’s ability to innovate.
We’re not saying everything in the world should be made here, but so little is, we’d be crazy not to support the things that are. And if Toyota wanted MADE to work on the Tundra, hell yes, we’d jump at the chance.
This extremely cool Gitman Brothers oxford shirt is easily rationalized as something that’s good for the whole country. Do the right thing and buy one at UnionMadeGoods.com immediately.
Do the right thing. Buy something staggeringly self-indulgent.
There is a time for rationalizing. And that time is all the time. At least, where retail is concerned. Because if you can even loosely associate what you’re buying with something that’s fundamentally good, then you can start pulling the trigger on some spectacularly irresponsible purchases. This is easier with some things than others. If you buy an expensive bicycle helmet, you can always say it’s for safety. That’s a layup. But a $150 Gitman Brothers oxford button-down presents a bigger challenge. Sure, it’s made with the same amazing 2X1 heavy oxford cloth that Gitman has been using since 1978, fabric woven from parallel yarn that gets softer with every wash, but remains totally indestructible. But none of that is as compelling as the helmet argument. To justify a buck fifty for a button down, you need something more powerful. Enter Made in America. When something is manufactured here, a bunch of good things happen. Things even better than self-softening fabric. Jobs are created. Fair labor practices are ensured. EPA regulations are followed. And the whole economy benefits. Because every dollar in final sales of manufactured products supports $1.40 in output from other sectors of the economy. Looked at this way, it’s not just you needing that Gitman. It’s the whole country, needing you to need it. And NOT buying it is about the most selfish thing you could ever do.
Ford built the MADE company car, a ’65 Econoline, the same year its Philco subsidiary outfitted NASA Mission Control.
America is more than Americana
The phrase “American Made” conjures up some pretty great imagery. Brats browning-up on a Weber. Well-worn Red Wings. A trusty Snap-On socket set. All of those products have a hallowed place in the annals of American manufacturing, and it’s cool that the brands who make them have continued making them here, despite the constant lure of offshoring. But if there’s going to be a resurgence in American manufacturing, it’ll have to encompass more than those types of products. It’ll have to include technologically advanced offerings, too. Multi-megawatt wind turbines. Next generation solar cells. Semiconductors, silicon chips, and the smart phones that contain them. This duality is nothing new. The MADE company car is a 1965 Econoline Pick-Up. But the same year Ford built it, Ford’s Philco subsidiary outfitted NASA Mission Control in Houston, Texas. There’s a lesson in there somewhere. Maybe it’s just that while we’re busy being soulful, we can’t forget to shoot for the stars.
Ford built the MADE company car, a ’65 Econoline, the same year its Philco subsidiary outfitted NASA Mission Control.
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That’s Prindle on the left, Schiff in the middle, and Kieselhorst on the right. Thanks to Amante Coffee in Boulder for putting up with us.
It all starts with a power strip. If you’re founding a company, or launching a non-profit organization, or otherwise exercising your right of free assembly in some way that requires digital manifestation, all you really need is a power strip. With this one item, you can assemble in a coffee shop, plug in several computers, and immediately begin making parasitical use of the free wifi. And then you can tell the world, in good faith, that you actually exist. MADE is a marketing agency designed to support a resurgence in American manufacturing. And we started with this power strip. Ironically, the strip itself was made outside the USA. So were our computers. But if all that stuff was made here now, there wouldn’t really be a reason for us to exist. It’s a weird sentiment to launch with, but our biggest hope is that one day, we needn’t exist. Here’s to superfluousness. —Schiff, Prindle, Kieselhorst.