Follies of the Mad Men #71

[From The Saturday Evening Post June 6, 1953.]

An ad which inevitably causes the viewer to ask, "Is that a barber pole in your Jockeys, or are you just happy to see me?"

Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 11, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fashion, 1950s, Genitals

Stupid Punts, Cheesy Bankers and the World’s Wurst Museum!

In what looks likely to go down as the slowest naval engagement of all time, rival punting companies in the historic English town of Cambridge are apparently engaging in a clandestine war for the city's annual passenger river-trade, worth an estimated £2.5m ($4m). The latest move in what the locals dub "the punt wars" has seen two of the flat, pole-propelled craft belonging to one local operator sawn through from end to end. Until now, some punt companies have stuck to using stink bombs or liquid soap to incapacitate their rivals' craft, or have severed mooring chains so that the boats must be found and recovered before they can start work, but this latest escalation of the conflict, which caused £10k of actual damage, is worrying many people. Some are now calling for a limit on the number of punts allowed to work on the river (Guardian).

Meanwhile, in Milan in Italy, the loan-collateral held in the vault at Credito Emiliano is not only protected by inches of steel and high-tech alarms systems, it's also maintained at the perfect temperature and humidity, and turned and cleaned by automated systems to ensure that it keeps its value. That's because Credito Emiliano is offering the local cheese-makers loans of up to 60% of the value of any parmesan cheese deposited with them. With each parmesan wheel worth 300 euros ($400), and local producers typically putting up 2000 wheels in a year in collateral, this has meant the bank has lent nearly 420 thousand euros ($600k) to each customer against the cheese in their vault. Which is gouda news for the local cheese industry (AP).

If there is one food that could be intimately linked with the German city of Berlin, it's the currywurst. A twisted cousin to the American chilli-dog, from a parallel universe so evil even the women have goatees, the Berlin currywurst is a sliced pork sausage served with plenty of powdered curry and cayenne and covered in a spicy, curry sauce and sold by street vendors to the passing trade. So popular is this snack in Berlin that the city has just opened the Currywurst Museum to show off the dish's history to tourists and locals alike. Partly this is to support Berlin's claims to be the birthplace of the currywurst, but it is also hoped the museum will promote the snack in the face of increasing competition from more conventional fast food. As one might expect from a museum dedicated to this singular foodstuff, the cafeteria includes an authentic currywurst stand (Times).

(Images from Wikipedia.)

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Sun Aug 23, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Business, Crime, Destruction, Museums, Pirates

Meet King Joe

Shouldn't they update this cartoon with regards to the Chinese worker?

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 21, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Business, Movies, Documentaries, 1940s

1948 Commercials

What a weird and different era....

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 25, 2009 - Comments (9)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, 1940s

Follies of the Mad Men #70

[From Playboy for May 1970.]

Well, folks, here it is: the last FOLLIES OF THE MAD MEN for the foreseeable future, and my last regular post after one year's worth of nearly two per day. I didn't quite achieve two FOLLIES per week over that year, but close.

In any case, read the convoluted logic here about how your choice of TV reflects your sexual prowess.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 07, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Sexuality, Television, 1970s

North Korean Beer Commercial

Benny-Hill-stye music, women with barely an inch of flesh showing-- The North Koreans have a lot to learn!

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 03, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Asia, Alcohol

Make Mine Duff’s!

Who knew that Homer Simpson's favorite brewery also made cake mixes?

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 27, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Food, Cartoons, Alcohol

Fly Air Weird!

Next month sees the launch of a new airline, which in today's economy is weird enough, but this one is only for animals. Pet Airways, America's first animal-only air service, will initially only fly between NY, Denver, LA, Chicago and Baltimore carrying 50 'passengers' at a time in individual pressurized cabins. Private lounges and overnight accommodation for long-haul flights will also be laid on (Dream Dogs).

Clearly this is an idea who's time has come, as Air Canada has also announced this week that it is to carry pets on its planes, as long as they board as hand-luggage. From July, passengers will be able to book the space under their seats as stowage for up to 4 pets in ‘leakproof carriers’, let’s hope no-one thinks that means Tupperware (Telegraph).

And when airlines are not treating pets as luggage, they’re usually treating their customers as cattle. Ryanair, for example, this week announced plans to have the passengers load their own luggage, saving the company an estimated 20 million euros (Belfast Telegraph).

A worse fate greeted passengers on a Thomas Cook charter plane recently when due to a mechanical failure only the front hold could be loaded with baggage, hence passengers were asked to move to the back of plane as ballast, to balance it out. After seeing people disembarking from the service’s previous flight kissing the ground and putting their hands together in prayer, 71 refused and made other travel arrangements (Daily Mail).

Finally, if you think the customers have it bad, spare a thought for the staff of British Airways, which once billed itself as "the World's favorite airline". Times are now so hard for the company it has asked its workforce if they'd mind taking a pay-cut or even working for free for a month, just to tide the company over. BA's chief executive has lead the drive, promising to lead by example and forgo one month of his £735k ($1.2m) salary (Guardian).

(Picture from The Bognor Birdman Event, a semi-serious competition to fly 100 meters from the end of a seaside pier.)

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Wed Jun 24, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Business, Flight, Pets

Follies of the Mad Men #69

[From The Saturday Evening Post for April 29 1950. Two scans, top and bottom.]

This campaign uses what I like to call "the artificial linkage" method. You take something natural and inevitable and try to tie your product to it. In this case, the entire grand eternal season of Spring means nothing more than digging out your paintbrush and ladders and tackling your peeling house.

You gotta love the name of the paint, though: "Barreled Sunlight."

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 12, 2009 - Comments (0)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Nature, 1950s

Love Day

As any fan of The Simpsons knows, Springfield once celebrated a totally bogus and greed-stoked holiday known as Love Day.












Utterly oblivious to any satirical implications that make them look like idiots, the famed jeweler Cartier has decided to celebrate Love Day too. I find references to this "holiday" going back to 2007.

Here's their home page.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 10, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Holidays, Humor, Overpriced Merchandise, Cartoons