Supercute!

My first formal exposure to cuteness was an introduction to the website cuteoverload.com by a friend. The mere mention of the website by name, and I knew this had to be successful. I was immediately very irritated or, better said, jealous that I had not thought of it first.

Kittens, bunnies, snorgling, puppies, and the whole panoply of obvious and non obvious subjects qualifying as cute populate the blog, which receives over 40,000 visits per day.

Some may bristle at cuteness, particularly in New York, a city that prides itself on being a center for sophistication and edge, with many self appointed curators. But cuteness lovers will not be dissuaded, and even in New York City, lovers and embracers of the cute, cuddly and adorable abound. And what does one do when hyper cuteness becomes deliberate and, in a way, with a splash of self mockery, redefines what is edgy?

When a colleague who does the social networking for my business discovered and brought to my attention the indie-pop band Supercute!, I was much more favorable to their brand of cuteness, as was everyone in our office. Was it that they redefined and remarketed cuteness in a novel way, or was it that I recognized the marketing potential of Supercute! for a product we all they were manufacturing, hoops?* Both.

Learning also that Supercute! were residents of New York City, I immediately asked a staff member to contact them, acting out fantasies of the agent and power broker finding and signing the unknown talent and sleeping giant. Laughable in the age of the Internet, and also since these girls already had presence online and an active career with accolades from the public and press.

Supercute! (Rachel Trachtenburg, June Lei and Julia Cumming) was easily approachable, and a meeting was set up to discuss the possibilities of a mutually beneficial relationship, particularly with their hula hoop song.

Seeing them arrive in costume and character was a big and fun surprise. They were accompanied by Rachel's mother, Tina, and June's father and photographer, John Lei. The photo was from a recent visit, where we customized a set of hoops for the girls in their signature colors of pink and blue. Always the charmers, the girls arrived again in costume. While waiting for their hoops to be made, the girls busied themselves primping up in our showroom for a performance in a variety show that evening at the Bowery Poetry Club (see photo here).

Supercute! was formed in 2009 by Rachel Trachtenburg, who has been performing since the age of six with her mother, Tina Piña, and father, Jason, as the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. These girls are getting invaluable guidance from their parents' professional careers and experience in a world where success is neither easy nor durable, even if you are Supercute! :)

*You can find our website here and here with posts about what I do here: Signature, Juggle This, Spinning, Artiste Extraordinaire, Fish and Ponds.