Oh Apple, You've Done It Again!

Another innovation from Apple. Click to enlarge.

If You Have To Ask...

I saw this on the interwebs this morning: a hard-hitting news piece asking if flossing is necessary.

Note that it's from BBC.com. You know, BBC as in England. Pip-pip, tally ho, wot's all this then? That BBC.

Man, the jokes are writin' themselves today.

Blast From The Past!

Way back in 1999 my pal KW Monster and I collaborated on a comic strip called Shrunken-Head Joe that ran in the local free paper. You can read all about that and see the strip here.

Once that particular SHJ story was over we ran a few filler comics while trying to come up with a new adventure. This was one of them. Obviously it's based on those old Johnson Smith ads found in the backs of comic books. And obviously you'll have to zoom in to read it.

The whole time we were doing the Shrunken-Head Joe story the editor of the paper never once complained or demanded any changes. Then one day he actually read the strip and suddenly he was nitpicking every little thing and refusing to run that month's comic unless we bowed to his capricious whims and changed it.

He especially hated this particular strip for some reason. His main beef was with the "Anal Kazoo" in the upper right hand corner. Apparently in his mind the word "anal" was the most vile and horrific word a human could ever utter (never mind that it's a medical term), and demanded we change it. We did, and changed it to "Wahoo Kazoo," which we thought was not only better but funnier as well. Oddly enough he hated that name even more! I can't remember now for certain, but I think he went ahead and ran it (because he was up against his deadline and didn't have anything else to run) but told us that our services would no longer be needed. Yes, we were fired from the free newspaper.

Enjoy this rare piece of journalistic history!

Pepsi X Rape!

This week soft drink giant Pepsi and Japanese clothing company A Bathing Ape teamed up to produce a line of co-branded products promoting... rape!

Yes, it's the fun new Pepsi X Rape advertising blitz!

What's that...? Hold on... Ah, I'm being told that it most definitely does not say Rape, but AAPE, the name of the clothing line. My mistake.

In my defense, you've got to admit that's a pretty unfortunate choice of font there. Look at it! Tell me that doesn't look like it says "rape" at first glance. Go on, tell me!

Yes, they used Pepsi's official corporate font, but at a glance that first "A" looks mighty like an "R."

Why didn't they just use the official Aape logo, seen here? It appears to be set in Typewriter Gothic or some other such font. Then they could have avoided all the laughing and the pointing and the mocking.

Pepsi X Rape isn't just available on a subway poster, tucked away underground! It's plastered on many different items. Why not flash your own special Pepsi X Rape smartphone cover every time you take a photo of your dinner at the Thai restaurant! 

You can even proudly wear your message of Pepsi X Rape emblazoned on your chest for the whole world to see!

Or jot down your innermost thoughts in your Pepsi X Rape journal! Live For Now With Pepsi X Rape!

As a graphic designer I honestly do not understand how something like this could happen. One person didn't design this campaign while locked away in a broom closet. There were hundreds of people involved. There were brainstorming sessions to come up with marketing plan, legal teams on both sides deciding who'd get top billing and demanding each logo be the same size, numerous meetings with merchandising vendors to decide what products would be used, and dozens upon dozens of executives who all needed to sign off on it before the whole mess got sent to the various printers. 

Every time I design something where I work it has to be approved by at least twenty people. Maybe even more. Between Pepsi and A Bathing Ape it would not surprise me if this had to pass through the hands of five hundred people. Are you telling me that not even a single one of them noticed something was amiss with their logo? 

I was going to suggest that maybe a disgruntled designer might have done this on purpose to get even with one or both of the companies, but even if that happened there would have been fifty people above him that should have caught it.

I'm looking forward to next summer's fun new Coke X TORTURE promotion!