I\u2019d like to proudly and sadly introduce our newest series, \u201cDid No One Look at That Before It Went Out?\u201d (DNOLATBIWO), honoring advertising gaffes that 100% ABSOLUTELY should have been caught by SOMEONE before they went live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all make mistakes. We all skim over errors and bad calls from time to time. An art director friend of mine passes logo designs around for a \u201cDoes this look like a swastika?\u201d check before sending them to the client, because it is<\/em> a very balanced and harmonious shape and it can be easy for balanced and harmonious logos to drift in that direction. That\u2019s why the third-party review is so crucial \u2014 she<\/em> knows her intent, she<\/em> knows she wasn\u2019t trying to make the logo look like a swastika, and thus fresh, more objective eyes are a must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the fresh eyes that would have saved IndyCar a lot of stress, embarrassment, expense, and unintentional 14 Words-esque associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The administration\u2019s Freedom 250 semiquincentennial celebration didn\u2019t stop with the apocalyptic fireworks display in the wee hours of the morning July 5 \u2014 late August will see an IndyCar race through the streets of Washington, D.C. So of course IndyCar wanted to commemorate this occasion with merch, with t-shirts and stickers and so on in its online store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The image? Undeniably boss: a line drawing of Abraham Lincoln sitting in his giant granite chair in the Lincoln Memorial in a racer\u2019s helmet and fire suit, against a background of vertical red and white stripes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The copy? \u201cOne Nation,\u201d it proclaims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne Race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nIndyCar: \u201cOne Nation, One\u201c \u2014 Oh, honey, no.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n