Mark Fenske: Advertising, Bureaucracy, Jouissance
This, the first of a series of posts in which Blogless refers you to its favorite blogs, is dedicated to the Nietzsche of advertising bloggers, Virginia Commonwealth University instructor Mark Fenske.
"What happens to a hamburger is what happens to the people."
- Mark Fenske, I Hate Capitalism, Branded Food & the Internet (ruminations from a drive across America).
A standard Fenske blog post takes the form of a letter to his students. Here is an example excerpted in its entirety (sans picture):
Q: What Does the Pilot of an Airliner Do if the Plane Suddenly Drops 2000 Feet?
A: Look up from his newspaper.
Dear Students,
You're not going to get any preparation for this in your classes.
But you should know it.
The key to success in big time advertising: learn to live out of a carryon.
Don't get into this business unless you truly love airplanes.
Merry Christmas.
The holiday dedicated to us not having to get what we deserve.
I quote his post here in verbatim, as I can't think of a more effective advertisement for his inimitable style. He's like Paul Arden, if Arden were a character in a Kafka story.
Among my favorite of his aphorisms: A Promise is an Infomercial, Maybe you suck, and this image, from It's February. Time to let Mr. Wacko in:
His blog is markfenske.com.
