Rebel Prince

Yesterday the California governor (who shall not be named) announced the final design for the state quarter, which will be minted starting in January of next year. Eh. Granted, it is basically the design I favored from among the five finalists, depicting John Muir at Yosemite, but there’s something a little off about it, and it took me a minute to figure it out: the scale. In the original design submission, you get a sense of the natural grandeur (yes, even on the back of a quarter), but in the final design, which I suppose is more of a collage of symbols, it looks like Muir could just walk a few steps, give Half Dome a swift push, and send it rolling down the hill.

Speaking of coinage, the nickel is getting a makeover for a few years, with new reverse designs. The familiar depiction of Monticello will return in 2006.

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Have we seen one of the new McDonald’s commercials? Apparently the fast-food giant thinks sex sells food. The spot opens with some eye candy: slow tracking shots of a few hot young guys at the office—the intern, the mail guy, etc. I’m thinking, mmm, nice. Is this an ad for clothing or cologne or a car or something? (Distracted by the boyish virility on display, I forget that these days commercials are never obvious about what they’re advertising.) We then pan over to see that they’re being ogled by a woman at her desk, eating a McDonald’s salad. Dang. Thanks for ruining the mood.

This commercial doesn’t make me want to go out and get a salad. If anything, it makes me want to sit back on the couch and, well, watch the commercial a few more times.

Speaking of McDonald’s marketing, what’s up with their Asian-American outreach? “I Am Asian”? I guess all you need is a simple grasp of subject-verb sentence structure to write copy over there. That whole site is a little strange. The title of the Latino campaign, “loMcximo,” a play on lo máximo, is somewhat clever, if unintelligible at first glance.

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