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One of my very favourite 'bizarre books' is this copy of Penguins Progress from 1946. PP was a series of (essentially) marketing pamphlets. Billed as 'news from Harmondsworth', it had previews, extracts, and - in this issue - totally bonkers rambling.
Here, for example, is a bit of transparency about their pricing strategy. I'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'm fairly sure at least one of those Penguins is shit-faced!
Smoking Champers Penguin!
I'm fairly sure at least one of those Penguins is shit-faced!
The interior illustrations as well. Here's the Puffin (Children's) team. Quite sweet.
...and, less sweet, here's the Crime Editor, who later went on to found SMERSH.
Y'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/
MEANWHILE, in 1946....
I love it.
I have other issues of Penguins Progress, but they're not nearly as fun. I think - although more devoted Penguiphiles will know better - they devolved pretty quickly into more conventional 'extracts and upcoming titles' 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 'do something weird and festive with our dinosaur logo'. Because she's a genius, we got better covers than that brief deserved.
They're actually all downloadable for free from Goodreads. (Weird, but true.) - https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=pandemonium+stocking+stuffers&qid=4UkgrRG2Jl - Hot tip - the 2013 issue had a very amusing mix of authors, all writing fantasy pastiches under pen names. (Still never outed.)
