Silly CD's bubble gum cards.
May 19, 2002 3:22 PM   Subscribe

Silly CD's bubble gum cards. In the grand culture jamming tradition of Wacky Packages. This one's my favorite. It's probably only a matter of time before we see "Wiggy Websites" cards or something...
posted by jonmc (22 comments total)
 
As soon as I saw the silly cds, I thougt that maybe whoever was responsible for Garbage Pail Kids (remember those?) had a hand in these - the drawing style is so similar. Thanks to Google, it turns out that John Pound is partially responsible for Garbage Pail Kids, Silly CDs, and Wacky Packages.

I love the Mad Magazine mentality behind all this.
posted by iconomy at 3:50 PM on May 19, 2002


Nixon Chicks??? That just made my day.
posted by Vidiot at 3:56 PM on May 19, 2002


I love the Mad Magazine mentality behind all this.

It's all part of the same tradition, ico. I wonder how many of today's cynics and skeptics got their start in doubting the "official version" of things from stuff like Mad or John Pound.

And that Jay and Silent Bob magazine cover graphic is making me leap around for joy.
posted by jonmc at 3:59 PM on May 19, 2002


At least they got a lot of their vocabulary from Mad. If drek is there, can potrzebie be far behind?
posted by yhbc at 5:15 PM on May 19, 2002


They actually had a "vinyl" version of these stickers that piggybacked on Wacky Packages around the same time. I remember having a sticker of the record of "Blowin' in the Hanky." This was around 1969 (even tho that record came out in '63).
posted by luser at 5:24 PM on May 19, 2002


Eh, I don't know -- seems more like a lot of poor puns aimed at easy targets. Reminds me of people who think they're witty for coming up with names like "Nutscrape," "Macintrash," or "Windoze XPenispoopiefartboobs." This isn't even satire, since all that's being parodied is the name. Anyone can replace a word with a negative adjective that begins with the same letter, so why should I care?

Plus, criticizing bands like this isn't even interesting -- everyone knows that Britney sucks, and anyone who doesn't is either too young or ambivalent about music to care. Of course pre-fabricated pop-bands created for the sole purpose of getting money from children with underdeveloped taste in music suck! It's practically a truism. Maybe these guys should release that book about how Hitler was really a lot worse of a guy than everyone thinks.
posted by tweebiscuit at 6:57 PM on May 19, 2002


Maybe these guys should release that book about how Hitler was really a lot worse of a guy than everyone thinks.

Um, Milton... why don't you go ahead and move your cubicle to storage B, m'kay?

rrrriiiiiiiiigt.
posted by Dean_Paxton at 7:58 PM on May 19, 2002


i know! instead of everyone loves raymond, we'll call it... everyone HATES raymond!
posted by lotsofno at 9:10 PM on May 19, 2002


or instead of metafilter, we could call it meta-insult-something-someone-else-enjoys!
posted by pikachulolita at 9:44 PM on May 19, 2002


OK, children simmer down. Don't make me come down there and straighten you out. It's a thread about wacky packs and stickers, remember?

and tweebiscuit, nothing in the world is less convincing than a college student trying to sound jaded and bored...
posted by jonmc at 9:52 PM on May 19, 2002


The other day I found myself wondering what this generation's answer to garbage pail kids and wacky packs would be. And here they are. Thanks, Jon.

And tweebiscuit, man, they aren't supposed to provide cutting-edge social commentary. They're for kids. They appeal to some of us because they remind us of our childhood, and in an oddly comforting way provide a connection with the current crop of youngins.
posted by Doug at 10:31 PM on May 19, 2002


or instead of metafilter, we could call it meta-insult-something-someone-else-enjoys!

umm, didn't mean it to sound like an insult. i actually rather liked the link.. i thought quoting the simpsons was the norm around here..
posted by lotsofno at 10:47 PM on May 19, 2002


Ok, ok, fair enough. Though I did know that they were for kids, I admit that I wasn't treating them in that context. Sorry about that, folks.

And I'm not trying to sound jaded, I am jaded. Then again, I did mistake the audience these things were aimed at, so it doesn't really matter.

But still, one of the differences in this generation of manufactured pop is that different media niches are encouraged to talk down to each other -- thus Eminem dissing Christina Aguilera, and Linkin Park (a manufactured nu-metal group calling Britney (a manufactured pop diva) a hack. That sort of "Manson roolz, Buttsex Boys droolz" attitude just plays right into the pop industry's hands. (Man, now I really sound like a jaded college student!)

(Not that any of that was relevant -- just describing where my motivations came from in a very roundabout way.)

I don't know, I guess I just want more from my culture-jamming than name-calling and caricatures. Maybe that's all that kids can tolerate -- but on the other hand, I remember reading MAD as a kid (in the early 90s) -- it definitely didn't seem all that subversive back then, and it definitely doesn't now.

Plus -- what the heck was that "Milton" comment supposed to mean?
posted by tweebiscuit at 11:38 PM on May 19, 2002


Oh, and lotsofno: "The Lighter Side of Hippies -- man, they don't care whose toes they step on!"
posted by tweebiscuit at 11:38 PM on May 19, 2002


tweebiscuit, you really need to see OfficeSpace..
posted by Apoch at 3:16 AM on May 20, 2002


lotsofno - i was more referring to tweebiscuit. reference caught and muchly appreciated.
posted by pikachulolita at 5:00 AM on May 20, 2002


(Note to self: Do try to stop using inane cult movie quotes as vague analogies)

Well, I thought that it would be a nicer way of saying that I didn't get your connection. From amusing (and yes low brow) humor to Hitler? Hell, I'll give you 90% of what you said but, I didn't understand the last part I guess.
posted by Dean_Paxton at 7:09 AM on May 20, 2002


lololol
posted by clavdivs at 7:17 AM on May 20, 2002


And I'm not trying to sound jaded, I am jaded.

You think you are, but trust me, just wait till you're 30 and you'll realize how unjaded you are.

I don't know, I guess I just want more from my culture-jamming than name-calling and caricatures.

Fair enough. No one would acusse these cards of being Swift or Voltaire, but they are good for a chuckle. And like Wacky Packages and Mad did for me back in the late 70's, they get across to kids the essential idea that advertising and media are not sacred truths and that they can and should be cut down to size.

And you're right the mad of the '90s and now aint what it used to be. If you get a chance check out the ones from the 50's to the '80s and se it at it's best.

I don't mean to pile on ya, tweebiscuit, as I usually like yer contributions here, you just happened to hit on a pet peeve.
posted by jonmc at 7:23 AM on May 20, 2002


I'm wondering how many of these parody cards sport the real-life names of obscure punk bands.
posted by furiousthought at 7:30 AM on May 20, 2002


Ah, Wacky Packs .... I loved those things. Back in 1974-76, they were the rage at my middle school in Fort Worth. And I mean, like, when all the students gathered in the schoolyard in the morning before classes started, all of us stood in small groups, showing off the latest Wacky Packs we just got and trading and selling them. I'd spend the night at a friend's house and we'd sneak out at night to the nearest QuickSack to buy Wacky Packs. It was the most intense fad I've ever seen. And, along with Mad magazine, Wacky Packs taught me to consume my media with a pinch of salt.

Thanks, jonmc, for that stroll down mem'ry lane.
posted by Holden at 10:23 AM on May 20, 2002


tweebiscuit, you really need to see OfficeSpace..

Well, I thought that it would be a nicer way of saying that I didn't get your connection. From amusing (and yes low brow) humor to Hitler? Hell, I'll give you 90% of what you said but, I didn't understand the last part I guess.

I have seen Office Space -- I just had no idea what the quotation was supposed to mean in that context. Now that I know what you were trying to convey, I still don't know how that particular quotation or character was supposed to convey it. (No criticism here, I'm just confused!)

Basically, "releasing that book about how Hitler was really a lot worse of a guy than everyone thinks" was the most extreme example I could come up with of someone trying to make a painfully obvious point. I'm just making myself redundant here, but everyone knows that Britney Spears and N'SYNC suck, just like everyone knows that Hitler was, to put it mildly, not a very good person.

Jonmc: Fair enough. No one would acusse these cards of being Swift or Voltaire, but they are good for a chuckle. And like Wacky Packages and Mad did for me back in the late 70's, they get across to kids the essential idea that advertising and media are not sacred truths and that they can and should be cut down to size.

I don't mean to pile on ya, tweebiscuit, as I usually like yer contributions here, you just happened to hit on a pet peeve.


Thanks, jonmc. I'm equally sorry for being so rude -- it's just that this post hit (however irrelevantly) on my pet peeve of people thinking they're being original and radical by criticizing Britney and the like. (see above, above and above.) Of course, I let my immediate reaction blind me to who these things are really aimed at -- and yeah, I definitely agree about the benefits they'll have for kids' views of advertising -- it's just that even as a kid I recognized this sort of parody as contentless and unoriginal. It says nothing about the individuals being satired themselves -- hell, it could work for any band. (Examples: The Pixies ---> The Nose-Pickies, Bob Dylan --> Slob Dickin'/Dorkin'/Drinkin', ad inf.)

Sure, this genre as a rule is great, but this particular series strikes me as pretty unoriginal, and I think a lot of kids (not all, but some) will feel the same way, and find their satire elsewhere. Hell, I remember the first time I saw the episode of the Simpsons where the aliens take over the US's political parties ("It's a two party system! You have to elect one of us!" "Well, I think I'll cast my vote for a third-party!" "Oh, sure, throw your vote away!") -- I was maybe 12, but I understood the message, and my beliefs were shaped by it. I guess I just feel like we should give kids more credit.

(On preview -- man, that was long. Sorry guys -- and again, sorry for being so rude. Oh, and by the way, I recognize you're right about being jaded, just as I knew in high school that I would consider my teenage years to be banal and naive now -- but unfortunately, thinking that way makes life impossible. Besides, it's all a matter of perspective -- so I think I'll choose not to undermine my own beliefs simply because of my demographic category, if that's alright with you. ;) )
posted by tweebiscuit at 4:37 PM on May 20, 2002


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