Worst. Political Sign. Ever. AKA Who Gets Paid for This Sh*t?

IMG_3898.JPGSo there I was enjoying my Sunday afternoon, running some errands around the Inner Funset, and upon entering my favorite place for kimchi, saw this…this thing amongst the myriad of posters and flyers in the store. At first I assumed this was some sort of prank, but upon inspection found out this is in fact apparently a legit sign for this so-called “grass roots” effot to get Temporary Mayor Ed Lee to run for a full term.
Putting aside the political insider basebal/endless prattle by pundits, as well as the most recent controversies involved in this alleged grassroots effort, let’s just focus on one thing: design. On ANY level, this sign sucks. Big time.
I don’t like to judge harshly but I have to say, if this is indeed a funded effort that seriously wants to have Temporary Mayor Lee to run, and attract mainstream support, this sign is an “epic fail” on many levels. It does not cost “lots of money” to hire a designer to make something that looks credible. Hell, if the “Run Ed Run” folks had called me, I could easily have rallied several of some of the best designers in the business, who could have hashed this out easily, and come up with something better – blindfolded.
Instead, we have this bullshit cutesy cartoony thing that doesn’t inspire the viewer to think “Hmm, perhaps this Temporary Mayor should be Mayor for a while.” No, it goes for that cutesy bullshit that started in January about “ohh tee hee hee Ed Lee’s mustasche, ooh tee hee he he’s not slick Newsom, blah blah bullshit bullshit bullshit.” Plus, if you’re going to put the man’s face on a sign, find a picture of him doing something badass like giving a speech – don’t make a cartoony face that is easily transformed into the pigs in Angry Birds.
I find it fascinating that while I’m struggling to pay the bills, people with absolutely no talent somehow get these paid gigs. I mean, I don’t even do design myself (I hire professionals) but I could sketch out something better than this and I can’t even draw. “Mason Powell,” who designed the famous N Is Near shirts as well as a myriad of amazing beer bottle labels (and isn’t even a pro) could do better than this.
If ever I needed proof Ed Lee isn’t running, I suppose this might be it. The man is an honorable civil servant. Apparently his backers didn’t figure that part out, and went the cutesy cartoony way. At a time when the city is circling the drain, fiscsally and socially, the last thing I need is more cutesy bullshit – we had enough of that under Newsom.

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