Im a big fan of G-Shocks BUT....

Well put. A lot of the G-Shock marketing certainly seems targeted at a particular demographic, that being the 18-30 with a definite bias toward sneaker / hip-hop culture (sorry for the slight sweeping generalisation). Previously the 'extreme sports' tie ins seemed pretty big (e.g. the Terje models) although these seem to have taken a slight step back recently. Interesting to know how much of this is driven by who is actually buying the watches vs what the marketing men are telling Casio they should do....

As as aside recently sold a G to a chap of my age. Was genuinely shocked when he told me it would be his first ever watch!

I think the marketing aspect of the brand can be discuss, but I'm not sure Casio is behind the fact that some artists are wearing a Casio in there videos. The G-shock are wear by different groups and I see nothing bad about that, if you're a police officer you certainly stay away from the latest all colors line, if you're a rapper you certainly buy one of the black and gold collection etc... Sometime I see a brand I like on the wrist on someone I don't like, if you like Rolex, think about all the people who just buy the brand because it shows you can afford it, for my part I don't care who wears what, I'm wearing what I like
Don't forget also that Casio is international and that the Casio event are a great way to bring more people to the brand, making the perfect tool watch an affordable fashion statment. The best sellers in terms of image are military, police or firefighters, who need an affordable, tough, multifonction watch, the core is there, all the rest is a plus and a big plus for the brand. I like both hand of the Casio spectrum, the tool and the fun tool My 2 cents.