MURKETING

Flickr Interlude

If you haven’t seen RedandJonny’s highly appealing Flickr images, I encourage you to do so now.

Art out of spam

realise all your dreams spam, originally uploaded by Linzie Hunter.

On having looked at this dog

lookatthisdog
Originally uploaded by sugarfreak

Perhaps you’ve seen this, since it got the BoingBoing treatment a week or so ago and promptly “blew up,” as they say. (Or perhaps you haven’t seen it, since it turns out that often things that blow up on the Internet are not really seen by all that many people.)

It’s a very funny flier that popped up in Baltimore, was photographed by someone, uploaded to Flickr, etc. (You’ll have to click on it to really read it — sorry.)
I hadn’t intended to write about it, but I keep thinking about it. I’ve looked at it repeatedly now and it makes me smile every time.

The truth is I’ve been slightly afraid that it would turn out to be some kind of stealth promotional effort for something. Like the dog would turn out to be a character in a movie, or that this would somehow all have something to do with a new kind of energy drink or whatever. Everything I say from here on out is under the assumption that that’s not the case.

Because apart from just being intrinsically amusing, what’s good about this to me is that it’s self contained. It’s not pushing you toward something else. It’s not a way to engage you in some behavior the involves buying something or going somewhere for “more information.” It’s just there: A source of pure pleasure for the taking. No strings attached.

So far as I know, whoever did it is anonymous, and that’s good too.

I noticed in the Flickr comments that somebody put the image onto shirts and whatnot, which is a little annoying, the urge to commoditize. But I guess that’s pretty minor, and this isn’t going to become Snakes On a Plane, with various people attempting to launch careers from or read societal implications into a funny joke, and convert pure pleasure into a branding event and gradually make the joke unfunny in the process.

Somebody in the BoingBoing comments suggests this is a ripoff of something else, and there are comments in both threads that riff on it in a way that tries to turn it into a “meme.” But this seems too have tapered off quickly, and I’m glad.

Some pleasures are good pleasures because they are small. They don’t need riffs. They don’t ask for more. They involve no transaction. They just are. You just take it in, and you’re happy, and that’s it.

(And as a bonus, in appearing to be a lost-dog flier, but not being one at all, this extends yesterday’s theme of things that look like other things, which I’m still pondering.)

Building a digital picture clock, with your help

The World Clock Project says:

We find it intriguing to see a picture of a clock that is located thousands of miles away, but one which tells us the exact time of where we are right now. So we’ve set out to collect as many pictures of clocks as possible from as many different people as possible from around the world. Our goal is to gather enough pictures to account for all the minutes of the day. Upon accomplishing that, we will create a “digital picture clock” for the community.

Check it out here. You can email your own clock pix or use the related Flickr group.

Annals of unfortunate product placement

The Smoking Gun says:

Every company wants its name and logo to be recognized by U.S. consumers. You know, brand equity and all that. Still, most firms could probably do without their employees (or customers) getting popped while wearing clothing bearing its name. As was the case with the 18 recent arrestees pictured in the mug shots on the following pages.

Pretty good. But remember: Innocent till proven guilty.

Via Adfreak.

Blackwater brand follow-up

Once again I’m away from home with little time to post, but to follow up the earlier bit about the Blackwater Brand, I had to pass along this BoingBoing link about Get Your War On, which asks, “Why not just call themselves Deathfang’s Midnight Posse of Merciless Skull Warriors?” (Thanks also to JKD on this.)

Excellent illustrator

Okay, I’m almost caught up with stuff I wanted to post about but haven’t had time for. Here’s the last one: Pascal Blanchet. Wonderful illustrations. Via Drawn!

Pleasing thing of the day: Paper dolls etc. by Wool and Water

This person’s work is pretty cool. Her name — I learn from Craft’s blog — is Amy Earle, a maker of paper dolls and other things. Here’s her blog, and here’s her “Wool and Water” Etsy store. Enjoyable.

Skullphabet #1

A free font, from Skull A Day. Via How.

KAWS take on Darth Vader

New from the ever-astonishing KAWS. He did this for/with Lucas Films, and it’ll be on sale in his Japan boutique soon, if you’re in a position to do anything with that information. I was just talking to somebody about Star Wars fandom the other day. I was into it for the first three movies, but never could get interested in the more recent stuff. Still, I had way too many Star Wars action figures not to appreciate the coming-full-circle nature of this particular item.

Next up for Thomas Hine: “The Great Funk” that was the 1970s

I’m admirer of Thomas Hine — Populuxe is a wonderful book, and so is The Total Package, and I’m a big fan of his The Rise and Fall of The American Teenager — so I was pleased to see this news, that he has a book coming out about the 70s. That’s a great subject, and a really great subject for Hine.

Here’s a bit from an interview in which he talks about the new book due out in November, The Great Funk (and in which he mentions in passing that Populuxe was out of print for a while; I find that astounding.)

The time when the assumptions of the Populuxe years were truly undone, once and for all, was the decade of the 1970s. And I realized that even though this was a period that was antithetical to the fifties in so many ways—a time of scarcity rather than abundance, fragmentation rather than national unity, personal exploration rather than social progress, corruption rather than trust, defeat rather than victory—it visually interesting and even positive in all sorts of unexpected ways….

[The Great Funk] reflects its time in that it is less about technology and more about consciousness. It deals a lot with clothes and the body, and thus is PG or even R rated, rather than G. The title is a play, of course, on the Great Depression, which is one meaning of funk. But funk is also about texture, and rhythm, and a sensuality, which is also an important part of the picture. And it contains some incredible pictures of interiors. I think that those who like Populuxe will be intrigued.

Sounds good to me. I actually think there’s much about understanding the 1970s that can help us understand the present era. Again: great subject for Hine.

A brand of imaginary brands

Last Exit to Nowhere:

A collection of unique shirt designs which are inspired and pay homage to some of the most memorable places, corporations and companies in 20th century fiction – from the sunny shores of Amity Island (Jaws) to the frozen climes of Outpost #31 (The Thing).

Definitely my kind of thing. Above, of course, HAL, from 2001. Plus Tyrell Replicants (Blade Runner), Polymer Records (Spinal Tap), Mighty Mick’s Boxing (Rocky), etc.
Via Coudal.

Previous imaginary brand notes here.

To Do: Enjoyable bears

We loved Jill Greenberg’s Monkey Portraits, so we’re excited to hear that she’s back: with bears. October 11 through November 10 at Clamp Art in NY. More here. (Thanks E.)

A journey through the meaning of things

Speaking of taking things seriously, it’s a shame that this WSJ piece from today’s issue is available only to subscribers. A first-person piece by Katerine Rosman (who I knew slightly some years ago), it begins:

On Sept. 17, 2003, in a chaotic intensive-care ward, just before being medically induced into a coma, my mother summoned all of her energy and whatever oxygen she could to make one request: “Take care of my eBay.”

From there it goes into Rosman’s investigation of her late mother’s eBay life: the glass pieces she bought, why she bought them, the connections she made, what she hoped would happen when she was gone. I won’t recount the whole thing here, but it’s a journey, and toward the end Rosman writes: “For the first time, I was able to look at the glass as a representation of how my mom wanted me to live — not merely as a reminder of her death.”

It’s great stuff. Maybe it’ll turn up online elsewhere. Or you could always just go buy the paper.

Product of the day

Tattoo Bandage Assortment. Perfect for Amy Winehouse, or whatever self-cutting tattoo fan you love. Via BB.