SUBMITTED BY: Chris Kilham LOCATION: Thailand (2015) This shop owner’s English grammar may not be perfect, but his or her heart is in the right place. (Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter, author and educator who teaches a popular ethnobotany course at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.)
Archive for the ‘Tacky Signs’ Category
Tweet SUBMITTED BY: Adriana Perez LOCATION: Wall, South Dakota (2011) Anyone who’s ventured on a cross-country trip to find themselves, has likely found at least a hokey billboard teasing Wall Drug. The tourist mecca is about 75 miles from Mount Rushmore, but it hypes itself as a coming attraction from hundreds of miles away. Some […]
SUBMITTED BY: Michael S. LOCATION: Thailand (2010) A pun-inspired shoutout for marijuana legalization in Thailand, where the prisons are filled with tourists who “just” inhaled once. But good news for those who merely fantasize about pot. So far, there have been no reported cases of the authorities confiscating pretend marijuana.
SUBMITTED BY: Kerry Byrne LOCATION: Florida (2010) Move over, Jenny Craig. Football guru Kerry Byrne has developed a fool-proof diet plan. “If you want to look like you’ve lost weight, stand next to something much larger and rounder than you,” he says. “Voila! I don’t look a pound over 250 anymore.” Keep your eye on […]
SUBMITTED BY: Kerry Byrne LOCATION: Damariscotta, Maine (2009) Shocker: Sex sells. Even at a Rated-G agricultural fair. The 1999 and 2007 World Champion Pumpkin Chunkers have been marketing their amazing pumpkin cannon with this slogan for a while — and they’re making a killing on t-shirts. Imagine the other products they could introduce under the […]
SUBMITTED BY: Michael Mirman LOCATION: Berlin, Germany Aren’t we all big schmucks for buying into the precious jewels premise in the first place? (Michael Mirman is a happily married software engineer with no regrets over any of his jewelry purchases).
SUBMITTED BY: Pam O’Meara LOCATION: York Beach, Maine (2009) Somebody call Ralph Nader. This is one of the most insidious examples of product placement imaginable. Mere steps away from the frozen banana bicycle cart at York’s Wild Kingdom Zoo is an invitation for children to fantasize about being smothered in chocolate and rainbow ice cream […]
SUBMITTED BY: Mark Zackin LOCATION: Hong Kong, China Blah, blah, blah, blah, Ben Stiller, blah, blah, blah. We Americans often assume that the entire world speaks English and we grow very impatient when foreign movies hire foreign-speaking actors who require subtitles. Here, in the heart of Hong Kong’s commercial district, is evidence that many foreigners […]
SUBMITTED BY: Sean Altman LOCATION: Savonlinna, Finland (2009) Branding is everything in the business world, and the name of this supermarket was an instant turn-off for musician Sean Altman and his adorable daughter Ruby. “I uncovered no white supremacist groceries in there,” he says. “Although they did have a sale on white sheets with pre-cut […]