I received ThinkGeek’s annual April Fool’s E-mail today. They make up a whole bunch of odd products and watch the fallout. It is pretty fun. My favorite was a couple of years ago when they pretended to sell Unicorn Meat (the picture showed a content that looks kinda like whitish SPAM with sparkles on it) and branded it “The New Other White Meat” and “Excellent source of sparkles”. Yes, funny, but it was the aftermath that was memorable. Soon after, the National Pork Board sent a letter to ThinkGeek about copyright infringement on the “The Other White Meat” slogan that the Pork Board had trademarked. ThinkGeek apologized and said “It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn.”
Now that is funny! And so successful that you can actually order Canned Unicorn at Thinkgeek now. I supposed I am mostly laughing at the group think scenario that happened at the National Pork Board and their lawyers. Why didn’t someone put up their hand and say “Aren’t Unicorns mythical creatures? Perhaps we should have a articling student check this out?” My experience in law firms are solely LA Law, Law & Order and Franklin & Bash based, so I really don’t know how things work, so perhaps the functions are so siloed that most of the participants didn’t know the big picture.
That is the reason I love Joan of Arcadia, Touch and other TV shows where the participants don’t totally understand the big picture. They are simply compelled to act by some plot mover (God, etc) or another. The characters are part of a larger plan that they don’t understand. In TV land, however, there usually is some type of resolution – some type of understanding – within 43 minutes. Now that is a time frame that I can live with – just wait your hour and your questions and wondering if the path you are walking is getting you to the right place. Were the choices you made and the opportunities denied lead you down a path you want? Will you thank God for unanswered prayers years later? Will the aftermath of this several years of un- and under-employment really be leading me to the places I want to be? It better well be a fantastic letter from the National Pork Board!
April 1st, 2012 Extra-Ordinary: Thinkgeek’s annual reminder of Unicorn Meat, the power of sparkles and the hope that the aftermath is what makes it the most interesting.
The Daily EO 