(AGI) - Monte Argentario (Grosseto), 23 ago. - Il sindaco di Monte Argentario ha annunciato una 'crociata' contro la vendita di chewing gum all'interno del territorio comunale. La decisione, che potrebbe sfociare in un'ordinanza e sollevare non poche polemiche tra i commercianti, viene definita come la corsa ai ripari contro la maleducazione della gente, che dopo aver masticato la gomma sputa le "cicche" per terra. "Il disagio - chiarisce il sindaco - e' quello dell'asfalto sporcato e delle suole delle scarpe dove le "cicche" si appiccicano. (AGI)

I was at Walgreen's last night buying a face cream that no other store in town carries (it's not exclusive, just reclusive; it's a Eucerin product, not exactly encrusted with diamonds or made from the tears woodland sprites) and so was caught in a jumble of on-your-way-out product placement. The counters, shelves and displays within a 10-foot radius of both checkout counters were packed with tiny amounts of myriad products, one of which was Big Red gum.

And I bought some. Which I haven't done since childhood.

Of course, I did not buy gum as a child. It grew magically inside mom's purse: Double Mint, Big Red and Juicy Fruit with their iconic silver foil wrappers and cinnamon Dentyne with its whisper-thin red and white striped papers. And my grandmother's purse was good for a gum whose name has been lost to the ages, but I do remember its liquid center very clearly. I know there's currently a liquid-center gum out there, but it's just not the same today.

Mom was careful about avoiding those exceptionally sugary gums like Bubblicious and Hubba Bubba, reserving them for the occasional chewing experience. Too much sugar too often would corrupt our teeth. Orange Bubblicious was my favorite. They were the best for blowing bubbles, though. Can't do much with a stick of Double Mint. 

By the time I drove out of the parking lot my mouth burned from Big Red's new Improved Flavor!, which tastes like cinnamon on fire plus more fire. Appropriately, the package sports a new icon: a devil sculpted from flame. Wrigley means it.

UPDATE: I just shared a piece of Big Red with a co-worker and she said it made her teeth hurt. Let this be a warning.

UPDATE TWO: I also saw myriad typos in this post after it was published. Apologies to all of you accepting the RSS feed.

Evidentemente es una técnica que contradictoriamente a lo estático de la imagen, ofrece mucha dinámica y oportunidad para jugar con lo visual y no hablemos de cuando una buena idea la acompaña.

Esto sirve como preámbulo para decirles que me parece muy extraño cuando una idea buena –como esta para Tabasco Sauce, es opacada por la antigüedad de una pieza todavía mejor como la de Alka Seltzer:

Sin embargo y saliéndome un poco de tema hay algo que me inquieta, de de lo que sinceramente no tenía conocimiento y que en su momento no hizo mucho ruido; parece que previamente ya había una pieza muy similar a las ya bien conocidas ganadoras de BBDO Bangkok, pero con mucho menos trabajo de fotografía y un nivel infinitamente más bajo de retoque:

Según lo que nos comentan, la pieza en cuestión fue realizada en el 2005 por una agencia italiana llamada Ergonomic, pero la información es muy escasa y sumado a que no hubo ningún tipo de reclamo por la propiedad intelectual de esta creatividad, no podemos ahondar mucho en el asunto, así que sólo la dejamos para el dato.

Regresándome al tema de los impresos para Tabasco (ahora realizados por Ogilvy & Mather Sudáfrica), creo que es un pobre acercamiento a lo que ya hemos visto premiado en diversos festivales y aunque tiene un concepto totalmente diferente, se siente un ligero y misterioso aire a copycat. Ustedes qué dicen.

OF COURSE YOU DO!
WHO WOULDN'T?!?

And do you want to achieve all of the above with absolutely no commitment or effort whatsoever??

OF COURSE YOU DO!
WHO WOULDN'T?!?

GOOD - because the shady charlatans at Zoft and their fabulous line of wonder gums can, for about $32 a pop, help you chew your way to full-on fabulosity!

Chomp your way to chestiness!

Smack your stress away!

Wear out your jaws for wondrous weight loss!

Munch away your menopausal misery with minty-freshness!

Heck - you can even grab a pack to perk up the peen!

But don't take my word for it
::: I'm serious -- do not take my word for it :::

Check out these completely fabricated and unverifiable testimonials ...

 "I've been taking this product for over a month now and have lost 7 pounds. I couldn't be more pleased! I also have much more level of energy..I guess it's mainly because I'm lighter. I feel great!"
Well thumbs up to YOU, Sandra, 37, from Nevada - sloth and stupidity finally pay off!!!

"It effected nearly since day 1, After 3 weeks I'm using it – the results are great, highly recommend".
Dan, 23, Los Angles
WOW - Thanks Dan from, err, Los Angles??? for that wonderfully ambiguous and moderately illiterate recommendation!

"Loved this product, will definitely order more, I feel much better. At the beginning I was skeptic, but it caused an improvement. Also shipping was super fast! Thanks a lot!"
Karyn, 25, Florida
Awesome Karyn!! I mean, I have no fucking clue what you're talking about - but kudos on that phenominally super-fast delivery -- you just don't SEE that every day!!!

Anyone sampled the Double Bubble Butt yet?

A very relevant topic to gum is the topic of bees because you know, bees produce honey and I am sure that there is honey-flavored gum out there in the world (and while I have not tried it, I am absolutely sure it exists). On the topic of bees, I took a few pictures of a single bee this past weekend. Though I am no avid fan of bees, they are pretty hardworking, I do have to admit. They also produce honey, which tastes quite good with lemon and tea. Also, I have yet to be stung by a bee, so thank you all ye bees of the world for sparing me that pain. Even further, since I do not eat meat anymore, I do not have to worry about wasps (I guess wasps are bee-relatives so they count as bees in my book) at barbeques. Hallelujah.

Bee-haters: Though you may have been predisposed to detest bees as a result of the knowledge that these tiny creatures do have and very much utilize stingers (and naturally, we have pain receptors whose stimulation is not so much appreciated unless you are a masochist), you may have to (ultimately, grudgingly) admit that bees are little pretty things of nature too (they wear two of my favorite colors too - yellow and black!).

then I came up with this poster

I imagined the worry of stepping on a chewed gum is kinda like fetters that restricts us from walking carelessly. Then I included the quote (slogan) I got from Extra's ad which is kind of sarcastic. But I realized that the background is too disturbing and makes the text hard to read, and also it's based on real images rather than lines, shapes and colors.

Then, I applied the concept of my previous poster and came up with another version