Squeeze Teases

Even back in the '70s, we used to make fun of Charmin's Mr. Whipple and uncontrollable compulsion to squeeze bathroom tissue...

But apparently, the problem was more prevalent in grocery stores back then than previously recognized:

And yet, just when you think you know the rules, along comes...

"Squeeze me." "Don't squeeze me." "Please don't." "Everybody squeeze." Just one more case of American culture sending out confusing mixed messages.

Wishful thinking?

Well, they tried, I'll give them that. But you have to wonder how successful Gillette was in selling young adults a shaving kit back in 1967, the era of the hirsute beatniks and hippies, popularized several years earlier by Maynard G. Krebs:

(And who just may have been the inspiration for the Gillette lad above.)

The movie is new, but as for the poster...

Notebook-doodle style art direction has been around in general advertising for some time now (see here, for instance), and lately, it's showing up in movie advertising as well.  

The poster for the just-opened movie, "Away We Go," uses rotoscoped figures and a collage of hand-drawn images and typefaces to suggest a low-budget film free of Hollywood slickness, as well as impart a more "authentic," New Bohemian feel to its characters...

I'm tempted to say the look was inspired by this 1965 poster by Norman Hartweg for the Muir Beach Acid Test (the San Francisco-area LSD parties held by Ken Kesey, later covered in the book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test")...

...but I think it was really more a technique meant to ape the elements of the various posters (and the commercial success) of the low budget, "authentic" 2007 movie, "Juno":

(By the way, those little figures running in the bottom right of the poster above.  We've seen those before, too.)

Where have I seen this before?

From Monday's NY Times:  California's new National Ignition Facility where 192 lasers will combine in an attempt to create the core of a tiny star and its thermonuclear energy...


...and the chamber of Cerebro, the mutant detecting technology of the X-Men movies.

The NIF facility cost $3.5 billion.   They probably could have borrowed the set from 20th Century Fox for a lot less.

A five-million-dollar idea?

Well, that's what it ended up costing American Apparel in a court settlement with Woody Allen over the unauthorized use of an image from his film, "Annie Hall" for a 2007 billboard.  As reported yesterday in the NY Times:

Dov Charney, American Apparel’s chief executive, contended that the image, which depicted Mr. Allen dressed as a Hasidic Jew in a scene from the 1977 film, was fair game because it was intended as parody, which is protected by the First Amendment.

The Yiddish phrase accompanying the photo apparently translates to “the holy rebbe.”  Is this putting you in a frame of mind go buy some clothes yet?

In addition, Mr. Charney argued that the lawsuit, which had sought $10 million, was excessive, as the billboards in question were taken down at Mr. Allen’s request after less than a week.

“I think this case was about the dignity of ideas,” said Mr. Charney, explaining that his insurance company had forced him to settle. “I’m not sorry for expressing myself.”

Okay, sir, but answer us this:  Exactly what in God's name are you expressing here?  Is this a billboard for an audience of one?  And what is the rationale for posting this personal (if incomprehensible) statement under the guise of your clothing chain?

Mr. Charney has...been the subject of highly publicized charges about sexual conduct, including several sexual harassment lawsuits brought by former employees.

Mr. Charney said the charges, which he denies, left him feeling so misunderstood that he could strongly identify with Alvy Singer, Mr. Allen’s character in “Annie Hall.”

In the movie, Alvy appears as a Hasidic Jew when seen through the eyes of Grammy Hall, his girlfriend’s grandmother; he feels he is being looked down upon merely because he is Jewish.

The sense of kinship prompted Mr. Charney to plaster Mr. Allen’s character on billboards, according to a 1,560-word statement that Mr. Charney released on Monday.

Oh, it all makes sense now.  Apparently, Mr. Allen didn't share the sense of kinship.

Newspapers And "Aditorial Content"

My, my, the hand-wringing and rending of garments over the L.A. Times' recent running of an ad (thinly) disguised as news content on its front page.  As reported by the NY Times:

The ad, for the new NBC show “Southland,” was written and designed to look like a news article, chronicling the “Southland” protagonist’s patrol in Los Angeles. The promotion ran on the lower half of the paper’s left column, with the headline, “Southland’s Rookie Hero.” Forming an L, a horizontal ad for the show ran across the bottom of the page. The top of the column was labeled “Advertisement,” and included NBC’s peacock logo.

It is the first time the newspaper has run a mock news column on its front page as an ad, although the paper has been running front-page ads since 2007.

First, let's get the obvious joke out of the way:  Some would say the newspaper has been running mock news columns on its front page for years!  (Rimshot!)  But more seriously:

Maybe the real problem is that it made a little too explicit the relationship between editorial and the business community.  After all, how many stories in any given edition of a newspaper are spurred by a press release or a "pitch" from some agent or lobbyist?  You may not see them on the front page, but try the lifestyle, entertainment and other back-of-the-paper" sections.

If integrity and credibility are the issue, then I wish the newspaper people who are in a tizzy over this pretty blatant and innocuous "fake news" were as concerned about the bias too often displayed by their reporters.

Get a hold of yourself (on second thought...)

Do the people writing the headlines at the NY Times ever consult with the layout artists?  In today's edition, here's the headline for a story and the photo that ran directly underneath it:

Losing Its Cool At The Mall

(Or is it just me that sees the innuendo in this?)