There really is nothing "adult" about these pretzels.  In fact, I'm feeling mighty immature making fun of this.  But I mean, c'mon!  Nutzels and Rods???  Remind me to use this one when I present The Museum of Marketing Madness to high school boys. 

bachman, groceries, packaging, pretzels, snacks
Posted by lee sachs at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In this exchange on Gmail with someone about work and using the words employment, the Highly Intelligent Google Email Scanners figured we might just be interested in a rhinoplasty or picking locks. 


So the logic goes: If you're looking for a job, you might need some plastic surgery so you look better.  And, if you're not making any money unemployed, you might want to know how to pick locks and steal money. 

email marketing, Gmail, google
Posted by lee sachs at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nine assorted exhaust elbows on a rack does not deserve the moniker "headquarters." 

automotive, copy for copy's sake, meinecke, midas, signs
Posted by lee sachs at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In a supermarket, to promote the broad range of 'theme' cakes they can whip up, is a catalog, presented on a stand like a dictionary in the library.  The Big Message is: The Magic of Cakes.  Is it me, or is this just depressing? 

It could've just said something witty like: "Have your cake...and eat it too."  But magic?!  Last time I saw someone pass off something like this as magic, it was a magician at a kids party who showed up wasted and pulled a bong out of a hat. 

graphic design, headlines, supermarkets
Posted by lee sachs at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This was from some artwork on a subway car, commissioned through the MTA's "Arts For Transit" program.  Now I'm all for art..and art in the subway.  Especially seeing art when I crammed up against some guy who smells and talks to himself. 



But does the artwork have to feature mass transit motifs.  Isn't there something a little unpleasant about this urban scene, a place where 40 tons of elevated track carry subway cars rattling every brick in the neighborhood? 

MTA, outdoor, subway
Posted by lee sachs at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Green marketing and advertising, like all marketing and advertising, tries to convince you of the impossible.  In this case, the company that cuts down trees and uses paper is really saving trees.  Here we have Marcal toilet tissue, with the banner "New Name, New Look, Improved Product" so you know it has to be a lie. 


Let us deconstruct. 

You've got the product name in all lower-case, "small steps" so it seems harmless and cute with a little arrow in the p making you feel like you're practically turning back the clock to a smaller steppier kind of time:

green marketing, supermarkets
Posted by lee sachs at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The brown of the sign and the "Heritage Area" has a nice feeling to set it off from the other signs around it.  This must be a nice area with some heritage, right? 



Unfortunately, this is for the town of Ossining (yeah, my town) -- a town formerly named "Sing Sing" until they decided to change it because people thought living in Sing Sing meant you lived in prison. 



So what's wrong with a little subtle tower graphic that bears a little resemblance to the tower where the guards stand watch with semi-automatic weapons ready to shoot if someone tries to escape.  That's Our Heritage! 

graphic design, logos, new york, ossining, travel
Posted by lee sachs at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From a website of a financial services company that will remain nameless, comes generic copy and generic stock photo nonsense.  Another one of those phrases that, given some thought, make absolutely no sense whatsoever. 

"They did more than stand behind us.  They stood beside us."


Oh really?  Why would you even want them behind you?  Shoving you out front, taking the bullets while they stand behind you?  And what's the big deal of them standing beside you?  You're still ... you...so what if you have "them?"  That's not gonna save you.  I guarantee, the minute you try to tell everybody, 'Look, they're standing beside me' they'll be gone in a flash and you'll be pointing to thin air. 

copy for copy's sake, financial services, stock photos
Posted by lee sachs at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some poor designer had to whip this one up in a hurry, no doubt.  I love the thinking that says , sure people will know these are cellphones, just look at them. 



Yeah, just look at them.
  

banners, graphic design, verizon, wireless
Posted by lee sachs at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This from my friend Josh, who spotted Marketing Madness in the sushi display.  Obviously taken in some big box warehouse joint called Wegmans where the ceiling is just raw pipes and fork lifts roam the aisles. 



Discover the Orient with Sushi??!  Is that really discovering the Orient, eating raw fish?  Can't I just go on the web and look at pictures of Japan instead of eating their crazy food?  Why are you scaring me with this stuff?? 

groceries, signs, supermarkets
Posted by lee sachs at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)