02.12.08
Why Every Business Needs Employees With A Decent Liberal Arts Education
To avoid problems like this. A store unwittingly marketed a child’s bed under the name “Lolita,” title of the infamous 1955 novel by Vladimir Nobokov. Once notified, the naive store employees turned to, of all sources, Wikipedia, to verify the problem. *Sigh*
Kudos to any commenter for proposing other potential marketing snafus. Linens by Iago? Fur coats by Aslan?
Your Husband said,
February 12, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I don’t have a literature-based one, but I have always thought the Luxor hotel was a strange idea. Ok, the shape of a pyramid is kind of neat. . . but what about the whole tomb thing? Do you really want a casino built in the shape of a tomb?
Wait, the marketers protest, pyramids have TREASURE inside. That’s what we want to convey. Right. Treasure inside a TOMB, and to get it out you have to be a grave robber (or curator of antiquities).
And another thing, isn’t a pyramid a bit ironic in the casino industry? Pyramid schemes, like casinos make money for a few by taking money from the many. That’s how a casino works — a whole bunch of people pay in, the more the better, and then a few people get what was paid in by those lower down the luck pyramid. More often than not, the winners also fritter away their winnings to buy back in — eventually the money funnels upward to the top, to the casino owner.
Come to think of it, maybe the Luxor pyramid is really truth in advertising.
Your Husband said,
February 12, 2008 at 4:09 pm
No more penguin for me! I’m not sure if my new avatar is very clear however.
Prawnik said,
February 13, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Icarus Airlines