7770 NORFOLK LUXURY APARTMENTS POSTS BETHESDA PHOTO BANNERS AROUND CONSTRUCTION SITE (PHOTOS)

Future luxury apartment tower 7770 Norfolk, on Norfolk Avenue, is promising "modern apartment living" on banners featuring oversized color photos of living large in Bethesda. Developer JBG installed the ads around the perimeter of the 7770 construction site yesterday.

In contrast to more generic marketing, the images capture real moments around Bethesda, not just stock photos of young hipsters at a wine bar.

You might not be surprised to find images of Bethesda Row on the banners. But my favorite photo gives a Kodak shout out to 7770's neighbor across Veterans Park, Fairmont Plaza. It was taken inside the sometimes-underappreciated pastry shop on the condominium's ground floor, Tout de Sweet. I thought that was a nice touch.

After all, 7770 is right on the street many expect to become the next Bethesda Avenue, when the Woodmont Triangle is substantially redeveloped over the next decade. In the future, "Old Town Bethesda" will likely have the same cachet as Bethesda Row, so it's only fitting that 7770 show some neighborhood pride right off the bat.

CAMPFIRE MARSHMALLOWS AT CVS IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Last night at CVS on Arlington Road, I found an American classic: Campfire marshmallows.

They are in the candy aisle, and come in two sizes: a pocket-sized bag of mini marshmallows, and an impressive larger bag of nearly fist-size marshmallows.

Vintage mascot Campy, a joyous soul who personifies the American tradition and memories of roasting marshmallows over a roaring fire, has been relegated to the back of the bag. Boo!

Taking his place on the front of the package is a marshmallow man wearing a backpack.

Campy is an American icon. Put him back on the front of the bag!

GROUP DEMANDS REMOVAL OF "OFFENSIVE AND SEXIST BILLBOARD" AT BETHESDA ROW GYM (PHOTO)

A local but anonymous group, Sexism Matters, has launched an online petition asking the Equinox fitness chain to remove an "offensive and sexist billboard" from its Bethesda Row building facade.

In the group's petition, which currently has 172 signatures, they tell Equinox CEO Harvey Spevak "our daughters and sons walk by the billboard outside Equinox Gym every day. They see a woman in a degrading sexual position, being 'celebrated' for her hypersexualized and supposed dexterity, with a pool cue and balls. This is somehow meant to advertise for a fitness facility. Our children shouldn't be subjected to this. Our female friends and family shouldn't be viewed like this, nor forced to conform to it."

Some context here: The facade advertisement features one of several images in Equinox's 2013 "Dexterity" marketing campaign. The photographs were taken by a renowned but highly-controversial photographer, Terry Richardson. Richardson is best known for his photos of top celebrities like Beyonce and Lady GaGa. He collaborated on a photo book with the latter, no stranger to controversy herself.

The resulting campaign has been recognized and praised on both sides of the Atlantic. Hiring Richardson was a deliberate choice by Equinox. They knew his work would be provocative, and certainly, the campaign was meant to provoke a response.

It has.

This local petition is only one example of complaints by offended parties across the internet.

But the campaign has succeeded: it's being talked about. They've got your attention. And that's the whole point. Aside from actual criminal activity, there's usually no such thing as bad press.

There is the First Amendment right, too, of the company to communicate anything it wants. So, too, are the petitioners exercising that right themselves. And the great thing about America, is people get to decide for themselves. Does the ad convince you to buy an Equinox membership? Or are you offended, and will go elsewhere?

Equinox does not currently seem to be hurting for members. But they have always had an edgy marketing campaign. That edginess - along with the high-quality, upscale product they provide - has distinguished them from competing gyms. And arguably, has played a role in its success.

The models are thin, and the fashions are expensive. And so they are in Federal Realty's marketing materials, as well. Bethesda Row is an "aspirational" place. It's not surprising that companies targeting an aspirational audience would give them what they believe those demographics aspire to.

Clearly, Sexism Matters feels some of the "values" in the Equinox campaign are not ones to aspire to. Others probably wonder what the fuss is all about.

You've got to give the ad agency credit - much like The Lauren's in-your-face condo ads on Hampden Lane - people are talking about it. (And, unlike The Lauren ads, some have said positive things about the Equinox campaign). In the ad world, that's what you live for.

What do you think about the ad?

BRUCE VARIETY ADVERTISES IN FRONT OF RIVAL'S STORE (PHOTOS)

Bruce Variety had a sign man stationed in front of competitor Bradley Party & Variety's yet-to-open store in the Bradley Shopping Center Saturday.

Of course, if you've been following the dime store soap opera in Bethesda over the last 5 months, you know that BP&V's store is the former home of Bruce Variety. One of the signs carried by the man alerted shoppers and passing motorists that Bruce Variety is now open at 8011 Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda.

It will be interesting to see if Bruce's brings the sign man back to Bradley Shopping Center when their competitor opens.

VINO VOLO ADDS OUTDOOR SEATING, BETHESDA GRAND OPENING TONIGHT (PHOTOS)

Vino Volo will finally open at Bethesda Row with a grand opening reception tonight.

First, however, the wine bar has added outdoor patio seating out front.

The comfortable accomodations include outdoor space heaters.

Vino Volo is under more pressure with this belated opening, after not only canceling the original opening at the last minute, but also leaving many in the community feeling snubbed by its unusually-exclusive local marketing.

Perhaps appropriately for a business expanding out of the airport market, Vino Volo descended on Bethesda, apparently determining who they thought the important local media outlets were from 30,000 feet.

Although those few were invited in some form or another to the wine bar, strangely, no one has yet posted an actual review of the concept or - more importantly - the food.  The result has been that maybe 3 or 4 online voices are talking about Vino Volo, rather than the dozens of influential local/food bloggers who might have been.

The exclusive media streams then made it difficult for those planning to attend last week's grand opening to find out it had been abruptly postponed.  I myself was informed just prior to the start time of the opening.  Not to mention that I've never heard of a well-publicized grand opening being canceled.

Then there are the passersby who have been asking me just what has been going on behind those papered-over windows the last two weeks.  Honestly, I don't know myself.  It appears there have been dozens of exclusive, private events of some kind.  Almost as if an entire nearby city was invited to dine, while residents of our fair city were shut out.  Occasionally, an attendee tweets from one of these events.  But I haven't been able to figure out just who these attendees are, and why they were invited.  What I do know is that a lot of potential customers have approached the storefront hopefully, and found yet another private event going on.

So it's definitely been an unusual opening strategy.  Which is a shame, because I thought the menu sounded great.  And Vino Volo is a perfect fit for Bethesda Row.  This is the Federal Realty property where the company has really matched the tenants with the demographics of the area.

I think The Parva, Vapiano and Boloco have shown how to do a grand opening:  getting actual community members and influential online entities into their restaurants, letting them sample the menu, and then posting their reactions en masse on their Twitter and Facebook accounts and/or blogs.  That's how you engage the locality you are going to rely upon for the bulk of your customer base.  You really can't afford, in the social media age, to ignore social media and the free advertising it provides.