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One of my very favourite & #39;bizarre books& #39; is this copy of Penguins Progress from 1946. PP was a series of (essentially) marketing pamphlets. Billed as & #39;news from Harmondsworth& #39;, it had previews, extracts, and - in this issue - totally bonkers rambling.
Here, for example, is a bit of transparency about their pricing strategy. I& #39;m not sure how much of this is true, and how much is marketing gumpf, but it is a punchy little narrative.
But why I really love this slim (48pg) little book - and think it is bizarre - are the illustrations. They went absolutely mad with the logo.
Thirsty Mistletoe Penguin!
Smoking Champers Penguin!
I& #39;m fairly sure at least one of those Penguins is shit-faced!
Smoking Champers Penguin!
I& #39;m fairly sure at least one of those Penguins is shit-faced!
...and, less sweet, here& #39;s the Crime Editor, who later went on to found SMERSH.
Y& #39;all, they *killed the logo* in that picture.
75 years later, the agency world loses its shit when a brand, you know, scrambles its letters for a stunt (KFC) or moves the arches a bit apart for social good (McDonalds).
75 years later, the agency world loses its shit when a brand, you know, scrambles its letters for a stunt (KFC) or moves the arches a bit apart for social good (McDonalds).
Everyone remember the infamous Pepsi rebrand document? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pepsis-nonsensical-logo-redesign-document-1-million-for-this/">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peps...
MEANWHILE, in 1946....
I love it.
I have other issues of Penguins Progress, but they& #39;re not nearly as fun. I think - although more devoted Penguiphiles will know better - they devolved pretty quickly into more conventional & #39;extracts and upcoming titles& #39; marketing material. This one seems to be an exception.
Slightly self-indulgent fun-fact. When @thefingersofgod and I had our own tiny press, we did an annual holiday booklet that was 100% ripped off from this exact volume.
@xHelloSarahx did the covers every year, and her brief was always & #39;do something weird and festive with our dinosaur logo& #39;. Because she& #39;s a genius, we got better covers than that brief deserved.
They& #39;re actually all downloadable for free from Goodreads. (Weird, but true.) - https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=pandemonium+stocking+stuffers&qid=4UkgrRG2Jl">https://www.goodreads.com/search... - Hot tip - the 2013 issue had a very amusing mix of authors, all writing fantasy pastiches under pen names. (Still never outed.)
