10 More Things// Polyester, John & Paul & Vegetable Sculpting
In this edition: why GenAI art will be like polyester, a book recommendation for Beatles fans and Lambeth Country Show's brilliant veg sculpting
No preamble from me this week. Hope you enjoy the newsletter and have a great week.
Strategy and all that stuff
GenAI Is Our Polyester. A likely metaphor for how people will treat AI produced goods: it will turn into polyester. Despite it being much cheaper to produce than cotton or linen, you are probably not wearing polyester. Why? Because it signals bad taste. A counter-revolution celebrating artisanal craft will stop the ascendancy of GenAI goods.
The Insight for MoneySupermarket’s Strut Ad. Looking for the physical manifestation of feeling good, brought on by saving money, the strategist happened upon an episode of The Simpsons in which Bart gets a girlfriend; feeling happy he says “there’s only one thing to do in a situation like this… strut!”
Why Every Copywriter Should Learn Yiddish. Connecting Yiddish’s peasant roots to it’s eclectic expressiveness to Bill Bernbach’s work. Particularly enjoyable are slides 16-28, where the author lists all the different Yiddish words for ‘simpleton’. I’m kvelling at this celebration of Yiddish!
Why Is Everyone Getting Their Tattoos Removed? Seems to be for 2 reasons:
People feel disconnected in their own bodies as they grow older and try adopt a healthier lifestyle.
It’s a lot less painful now. The tech works by heating the ink to a point where it breaks down into smaller ink particles the body can naturally dispose of through the immune system, like it would a virus. The new tech does this very quickly.
Creativity & campaigns
John & Paul: A Love Story In Songs. Ian Leslie’s story of John Lennon & Paul McCartney told through their most revealing songs. The central premise is that John & Paul loved each other; even in the decade after the Beatles split and their public relationship deteriorated, they remained best mates, until Lennon’s death in 1980.
Lennon shaped much of the conventional Beatles narrative in his many post-Beatles interviews, which exaggerated his contributions, framed himself as the revolutionary intellect and McCartney as the twee melody maker. Leslie does much to rebalance the narrative by pitching John and Paul as two sides of the same soul, both spurred on by the shadow of the other. It’s a fascinating examination of the most successful songwriting partnership of all time. And it was a partnership, much more than I realised.
Happy to lend my copy out if someone wants to read it.
Captured Clouds. The Dutch artist Berndaut Smilde uses a mix of fog machines, humidity, and lighting to form real clouds indoors. I want to write something poetic but my most dominant thought is it reminds me of Fart from Rick & Morty, played by Jemaine Clement. Speaking of which: Gooodbyeeeeee Moonmen.
The Economist Is Back (Sort Of). Great Economist ads but most likely mock ups, oh well.
Pick N Mix
Lambeth Country Show’s Vegetable Sculpting. Friends of mine will know this is exactly my sort of thing. Although I’d never heard of it before so perhaps they didn’t know this is my sort of thing. Or maybe they didn’t know about it either. Needless to say, to ensure I can attend next year, I have joined their newsletter.
The Average. Compare yourself to the average. Of note, c.80% think they are less religious, worse dancers, more curious, privileged and smarter than average. Some of those might be true (or more true than 50%) as the base is people spending their free time answering a silly internet survey.
The Rehearsal. Finally found time to start watching season 2 of The Rehearsal. And this time it’s about… aviation safety. It’s brilliant. He’s blurring art, satire, comedy, documentary altogether to create something totally unique. A bit like if Adam Curtis was Canadian and funny.
Peace out ✌️
Alex