Strange Maps = Wonderful World

I was back in the 60s with Mad Men last night.

Art director Salvatore Romano delivers a line of expert irony. He rhapsodises about the future of advertising.

“The copy will follow the art, and not the other way round.”

It wasn’t a distant world after all. And I’ve been fairly speechless today. So I set out on a visual voyage – and Strange Maps is my pick of the morning.

Old Europe by Justine Smith.

An Absolut Mexico by Teran/TBWA Mexico.

World Beat Music by James Plakovic.

The Surrealist Map of the World, published in Variétés magazine (1929).

Grrr Woof Meow Please

Put yourself on the paws of a chihuahua. The Mexican jibes are probably bad enough. But even when you’re not faced with xenophobes, punks talk down to you all day. Why can’t these oversized thugs learn some manners? Let’s go back to school: how to communicate with animals.

Lesson 1: Look an animal in the eye. Talk to that animal on their level. Stop being so condescending.

This is a smart piece of work by Belgian agency 10 (via Ads of the World). If we can make the effort to talk to feet on a level, animals deserve more grace.

Lesson 2: Speak to them in their language. You expect a Venezuelan to understand Russian? A footballer to “get” Tolstoy? Alan Shearer to develop a fashion vocabulary?

This was a lovely pick by Chris Wilson (I haven’t met or spoken to Chris yet, and I hope this in itself isn’t bad etiquette). He puts it well. People don’t like to be barked at.

Neither do animals. Well, I guess dogs do, when they’re in a bark mood. But they might be more up for a grrr.

Unless you look that chihuahua right in its beady eye, you’ll never know.