G.I. Faux
Hasbro has begun running a series of meta-ironic magazine ads for their classic G.I. Joe masculine indoctrination toys from the 80s. Yes, they have finally caught on to what that snickering over “knowing is half the battle” was all about. (Click the pictures for full size)
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Retro-hip kind of loses its fizz when the product being mocked tries to get in on the joke. It’s like your Dad asking if you’ve been “YouTubing on the Internets” in your grandfather’s voice. Nevertheless, I am not ready to surrender one more icon of my youth to the ash heap of recuperation. What’s needed is deeper, more self-conscious irony, something that says “So what if I choose to give the last fuck? Fuck-giving is the foam on life’s latte, you pro-corporate poseur-hag.”
Call it “full circle jerk”, a new cynicism that is already an homage to itself, like Joan Crawford using a wire hangar to beat a Cabbage Patch Kid wearing a Rachel’s Vineyard T-shirt. Here is my contribution to the G.I Joe campaign. Feel free to send me your own Photoshopped indifference.
Some people simply don’t have their act together:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1046173/
2009? Or is it a strategic move to have the 25th anniversary set now and then another onslaught of toys next year?
I think Hasbro tried to issue a weak cease and desist letter to a website that was spoofing the ads a while ago. As if spoof ads were somehow interfering with their ability to make truckloads of money.
I love it when corporations with bored lawyers try to shut down creativity on the web then turn around and try to attempt the same thing they were trying to eliminate. Seems about as useless and baffling as Optimus Prime having lips and eyebrows in the live action Transformers flick.
And thanks for making me piss my pants in laughter with your contribution to the ad campaign. Although I have to admit that that Ziggy cartoon warmed me up. Oh Ziggy, how did you manage to delete all your files?! Put on some pants, you scamp!