AMERICAN EXPRESS STANDEE FEATURING LOU REED

N.p.: American Express 1988
36 x 15 cm approx. vintage 1988 cardboard standee for holding American Express application forms for college students, featuring Lou Reed. Part of a extended campaign for American Express, beginning in 1985 with ads featuring Reed in his leather jacket proclaiming “How to buy a jacket.” Part of a brief phase as a corporate pitchman by the iconoclastic musician, which also saw him shilling for Honda scooters in an ad that repurposed “Walk on the Wild Side.” Fine and never used, with the tabs unfolded and slots unpunched. An amusement of commodification.