I'm sick to death of reading about adverts being banned because of 10 angry calls (which means 10 sad and lonely people who are probably religious fundamentalists or just plain stupid), or 5 angry calls, or in these cases, one and no angry calls.
This recent Marc Jacobs advert for his new fragrance Oh Lola was pulled after the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority deemed it too, well too raunchy basically. The fragrance's manufacturer, Coty U.K., told the ASA it had received no complaints at all, and neither did ES Magazine nor The Sunday Times Style Magazine when they ran the ad. It's all getting a bit out of hand, if you ask me.
I mean....what the....it's as if they're trying to be Anthony and Sharon who yes, were cheesy, but I have a faint memory of being totally ecstatic when they finally kissed in 1989.
Anyway, the point being, if adverts must be decent enough to be on TV or in magazines, then they should also be decent enough.
It was only about 5 hours ago that I found out Thomas Hoepker's photo of New Yorkers moments after the 9/11 attacks existed, but I keep going back to it. It's such an odd image. My brother sent me an article from The Guardian about it, and when I first saw it, I just thought it was photoshopped. I mean, look at it. It's insane.
In the article, Walter Sipser (the guy with the sunglasses) says that they were in a complete state of shock, and with that, I can imagine they simply didn't know what to do with themselves. Of course, it's the surroundings that make it so idyllic - the vivid green trees and shrubs, and the beautiful, bright September sky. It's hard to believe that what is happening in the back ground actually did happen, and that it's not just a well photoshopped image. In fact, in some sense, it's one of the best photos of that day. It's stunned disbelief, confusion, routine, and silent panic. I'll probably think some more about it, but would love to hear other thoughts.
The official London 2012 Olympic posters have been unveiled, all of which are by artists, and not designers. A little odd, even in my humble non-designer opinion. They're alright. A couple of them are pretty nice (Hodgkin and Whiteread), but I'd hardly use the word 'inspiring'. They're no where near as awful as the font, for which I'm grateful, but to me, they lack the impact of some past Olympic posters. It's a pity, but it could have been worse.
Anthea Hamilton
Bob and Roberta Smith
Bridget Riley
Chris Ofili
Fiona Banner
Gary Hume
Howard Hodgkin
Martin Creed
Michael Craig-Martin
Rachael Whiteread
Sarah Morris
Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin's attempt reminds me of a Hallmark card, and Sarah Morris' art reminded me of the BBC test card. Maybe that's just me.
