Monday, March 14, 2011

More Things I Find Problematic

1.  Starbucks Logo

Really!  Look at that.  What
are we supposed to think?
Over the weekend I mentioned on Facebook (honestly, I totally heart FB and can't believe it still goes undiscussed) that I was disturbed by Starbucks logo.  For those of you who missed it, the gist of it is that there seems to be no explanation for why the mermaid has either two tails or a split tail that is like two tail legs.  The latter would lead one to believe that she is holding a leg on each side of her head.  It was my thinking that either the mermaid has her legs/tails spread welcoming people or that is where Starbucks wants you to think the coffee is coming from.  I have to say, either option is a little bit yucky and not the way I would go in regard to a marketing strategy.  If anyone can shed some light on this, please feel free.


2.  Age You Can Join the Military/Drink

You can't drink until you are 21 in the United States.  I have no issue with this.  My issue is that it seems a little incongruous to tell people they do not have the maturity or good judgement to drink until they are 21, but we trust them, at 18, to kill other people and to be mature enough to handle the stress and trauma of the job.  To solve this problem, it is my thought that we should continue to allow people to join the military at 18, but we should not allow them into combat until after they are 21.  I do understand that there are some people who could wait until they are 50 and still wouldn't really be mature enough or have good judgement, but I can only solve one problem at a time.


3.  Sports Interviews

If you can't give an interview
like Muhammad, then please
 take my advice.
Please please please can we stop interviewing athletes right after a game?  Win or lose the questions are usually inane (so, how did it feel to get beat by your biggest rivals -it felt bad, how do you think it felt), or so long-winded that the athlete doesn't even understand what is being asked.  Obviously, some athletes are more well -spoken than others, but none of them really know what to say.  They are clearly anxious to get to the locker room and are just trying to be nice because they are probably told they have to.  Since no one has anything of substance to say, I think all questions should be answered with "Well, what I always say is 'float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' "  Athlete should then throw some air punches, slap the interviewer on the back and walk off.  We have the same information we had before, but now we are entertained.


4.  Highway Construction

Someone help me understand why the Girard Point Bridge on I-95 is still under construction.  I-95 is the major north/south artery along the eastern seaboard.  How is fixing any problems not job one?  If I was in charge they would be working on this 24/7 until the job was done.  I believe they work all day, when it can cause the most traffic, and then stop at 3pm.  Do they have bankers working on this project?  Why are they stopping at 3pm?  If you are going to jam up traffic in the most inconvenient place (between the sports stadiums and the airport) then you may as well work around the clock.  If not, try working at night when you won't be so disruptive.  Oh, and for good measure, some of us can use I-476 to avoid this problem, but they are working on that too.  Always good to work on all major highways at once.
PS - you can use the word stadia or stadiums, the dictionary said so, but I think stadia sounds too weird and am boycotting it.



I was obviously too harsh
in my judgement of
Lil' Wayne, whose ink looks
charming in comparison.


I don't think I have anything else problematic at the time.  Wait!  I did want to mention that to further my point that neck and face tattoos are not a good long-term idea, please take note of this picture.  What job will this guy ever get (of course I think the criteria for prison jobs are less stringent than in general)?  The whole thing is such a disaster that the swastikas aren't even that alarming.

8 comments:

  1. The upside to people being tattooed in such a way is that if you are in the market for a boyfriend/spouse/sperm donor, you don't have to waste any time getting to know the person. You can see EXACTLY what you would be getting and can just skip to the next candidate. Saves time. Not that there are not nice heavily tattooed people... but they obviously have issues planning for the future and entering the job market.

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  2. I'm going to be very careful about where I put my fingers while holding the new cups. Ummm do mermaids even have girl parts? Top ones yes but bottom? *shiver* Actually, this makes me want to buy a cup of coffee. Oh well, guess it works!

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  3. As always, LOL.

    The Starbucks solution? As I see you've referenced the Philly area, get thee to Dunkin Donuts. The little guy running will help you feel virtuous, as it is almost like you are exercising, and as a bonus: while there are few times in life where orange and pink is a good idea (yes, I'm talking to you Lilly Pullitzer and Vera Bradley), this is one of them.

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  4. Here's a little history on the Starbucks logo.
    http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2005/06/the_evolution_o.html

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  5. not sure if i like the sea-porn direction they're going with the mermaid either--more though because they got rid of the border around the logo, and, well, my ADD needs a discernible boundary or the visual stuff just messes with me. i will be borrowing the barista's sharpie or black wax pencil to draw my own border until howard changes the logo back to normal...

    thanks for the thought provoking laugh...

    anonymously, in the ATL...

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  6. Since I don't drink coffee, never noticed the logo, it is weird. I do travel over the Girard Pt Bridge to and from work. They never finished painting it last year and are getting ready to start again. As far as the interviews with athletes, I totally agree. What do you think they are going to say after they've fumbled a pass and lost the season game, "Boy was I a butter fingers?"

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  7. I was very interested in this whole Starbucks logo evolution after reading your post, and I remembered that the mermaid has actually been around since the beginning, so of course I had to Google it. The search led me right to Starbucks' website itself, and indeed, the only real change to the logo is the removal of the ring and words around the mermaid. Yup, she has always been "two tailed" In fact, it looks like they introduced a little "modesty" to her look back in the 90's when the company went public by zooming in on her to remove the split area between the two tails. Turns out the two-tailed mermaid is a folkloric figure known as the Siren in Nordic folklore. Check out more on the transition here

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  8. thanks to everyone for the two-tailed siren info. Why do you think no one but Starbucks has ever used the two-tailed version? Every other picture, story and movie just has a regular mermaid. I know they were working from the book Moby Dick, but I still don't like it as a logo and still think it's a little porn-ish. Also, I like the last logo with the words and some black contrast better.

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