Spotted last night on K Road:
Para-die-sh? ParaDISH! Para-deesh? It’s the name of a new Chinese restaurant… It all sounds delicious to me.
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From the category archives:
Phraseology
And then came the brilliant part. We had a bunch of monster Tuscan kale growing in the yard this past summer. You’re supposed to wait until the first frost to harvest it, and we’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for a frost. I don’t know why you have to wait for the frost, but my wife kept telling me that. And they’re giant. I mean these things are about three-feet tall. I went out and harvested, and I chopped the kale and started sautéing it with olive oil, and I put salt on it. It was just great. A bunch of the leaves were much thinner than others and I thought I was burning them almost, but those were the best parts. It’s almost like it came out like an incredibly delicate potato chip but made out of kale. It was definitely the best part of the meal.
Crunch, you know, is one of those universal human irresistible things. In fact, if it is a universal I’d love to know why. Is it some ancestral memory? Crunching the bones of your enemy? I don’t know why crunch would be pleasurable.
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You are bombarded with messages when you cross the threshold of a super city. Some inspirational, some persuasive, some provocative. Some shout from 30ft billboards to make their mark, others subtly wait for you to discover them in a grimy nook.
Here are a few of the words that took my fancy in New York (and some of the typography is brilliant to boot).
Also, no photos, but I loved the multilingual nature of NYC – the signs in Chinese at the Chinatown subway stations, the Dominican butcheries – Carnicero, the Polish enclave filled with bakeries. It makes me wish I wasn’t such a monoglot!
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From my Saturday morning to yours! I found this ad in the magazine section of the weekend paper.
It’s an ad for the City Farmer’s Market at Britomart, in downtown Auckland. How could you say no to that? There’s only 12 words to the ad but it is incredibly compelling and evocative. Perfect.
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Tea that engages you in a wee conversation as you’re brewing your cuppa? Something to look at instead of the wall while the kettle boils? Yes, yes. Healtheries have done this and I like it a lot!
First up they bring us some factual tidbits about the herbal tea you’re about to sup:
Then hit you with this:
Other charming tea bag tags included “Why drink black tea / When you can drink it in full colour”. It’s a clever use of a previously ignored piece of packaging ‘real estate’ to get some attitude across!
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Chanel (repeatedly) puts out this note to try and protect the equity their brand name. It’s an elegantly written plea to cease-and-desist bitches! Enjoy:
My Channel blouse from Thailand is all good though, right?
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While car manufacturing is seen as a big bad industry by some (including myself), it’s good to be reminded that there’s people behind it. Good humans who just want to make a living and support their families. That’s why I’m glad the Honda factories are opening again.
Thanks is due to Wieden + Kennedy for making these tea, bacon and iron ads to spread the news.
Very British, very heartfelt – copy that definitely delivers a smile in the mind.
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I found this Better Homes and Gardens magazine while fossicking in some old boxes at my parents’ house. It’s the August 1982 edition!
Summer fruit puff recipe! Redecorating a 50’s house for the 80’s! Oh yeahhhh. It’s a real retro goodie.
In this one magazine, there’s an astounding 24 pages of full colour cigarette adverts, plus the the back cover. That’s out of 143 pages total. Shocker! The ‘death of print’ and recession aside, could you even begin to imagine that in a modern magazine?
I scanned this Parliament Lights ad to share:
Benefit driven drivel, with a condescending tone. I’m not too sure why, but I am really attracted to this style of excessively persuasive communication. It’s very satisfying to write.
In fact… here’s a fictitious radio ad I wrote for a competition. Entitled, “Smoother & More Satisfying”, please imagine this being read by a 1960’s era male announcer, with formal enunciation:
“We know it’s hard keeping up appearances in today’s fast paced society… but the reward is worth it! What you need in your life is a mild good tasting cigarette, like Durrys Slims Extra Mild.
Smoother than a fine whiskey, more satisfying than cheap sex. For added vigour, to forge your path to victory – do try Durrys Slims Extra Mild cigarettes today. For all of life’s thrilling moments… with Durrys, you have no worries!
‘Mad Men. Sundays 8.40pm. It’s on Prime.’”
Hee! I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that smoking is for idiots who want nasty wrinkles and foul breath. Mwah!
This magazine has 143 pages.
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I can never resist writing or design in jokes, I love them. (Cough, geek). This time I’m sharing a card I’ve had in my file for ages:
Cuttingly cynical, delightfully personalised. I don’t know who Mike Dempsey is either. So recently when I left my family of 5 years at designworks, I was stoked to open the figurative envelope (it’s a damn big piece of card) and find this:
A similarly sarcastic piece of long copy. Lovingly composed by Mick (I heard there were several frustrating drafts) and kerned by dear Emma – just for me!
By the way, I’ll have you all know the the stain is just teriyaki sauce -we were at a Japanese restaurant and everybody had to have a read. Nothing dire like a splash of blood from a – after I told everyone what I thought of them, ho ho ho. That’s just smoke and mirrors… I really treasure this card – and don’t tell anybody, but I miss them too.
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As do all writers, I love a good turn of phrase. Signs of good writing? A physical reaction! This may include snorting with laughter, sighing with jealousy, sharp intakes of breath (shock & awe) or frowning.
Because great writing is something to be treasured and I am a magpie, I started holding on to the best pieces I see… Now I have several scrapbooks jammed full of favourite texts (mostly packaging and ads) from around the world.
Rather than let them collect dust, I’m going share the best copy examples with you for a little bit of inspiration. First up, some cheeky wine bottles from Australian winery The Cost Vineyard:
“With tweleve different labels for a single vintage of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, The Cost Vineyard labels are created to look like newspaper clippings from various parts of a paper. The vineyard is mentioned in some way in each story or article featured, but it is never the lead story or headline.” – lovelypackage
Nothing like a bit of humour, a bit of code breaking, to flog your vino. Because, yes, we probably already know its background, thanks to the retail trend of microcategorising - ‘Oh look a whole selection of organic foot-crushed sauvignon blanc from Matakana‘.
So why not have some fun? All that talk of origin, river beds and voluptuous fruit gets a bit boring sometimes.
Clever, compelling, funny, painful – Phraseology. Expect it regularly and with great anticipation.
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