Fake Circumciser's Ad In Turkey

Now I'm sure that WPP/Grey didn't get to be largest ad agency in the world by turning away work. But you cannot convince me that the Grey Healthcare office in Istanbul actually got paid cash money to produce a tearaway flier to help drum up business for the neighborhood circumcision clinic. I just don't believe it.

If anything, this kind of, uh, ad team self-entertainment looks like what you get when there's not enough billable work.

And speaking of actual client work, I though it best to put another ad from the same creative director, Nurcan Yildiz, after the jump. The client was a cholesterol drug. The project was a mail insert. Every pun in the world intended.

I Wanna The Whole World In A Bag, Muji, 'N Ever'thinissinit

For the fourth Christmas in a row, Muji has expanded its "In A Bag" series, a megalomaniacal mission to distill entire swaths of the known universe into tiny, little wooden toys, and then trap and sell it in little muslin bags. The major cities were the first to go: New York, Paris, London, Tokyo.

Then came Suburbia in a Bag, and Village in a Bag. In 2006, Muji put out Outer Space in a Bag, but it was a bit of overreach; both our Outer Space in a Bags broke within a few minutes of opening them. [Notably, all three of these BFE in a Bags have been discontinued.]

Last year was second-tier cities like Barcelona, and this year, Muji's gone all out, with a whole slew of new In A Bags, including the 34-piece Greatest Hits collection, World in a Bag. Where will it stop? I'm sure if the London designers at Industrial Facility, who are behind the In A Bag series have any say in the matter, they'll just keep on making In A Bags until the whole world is full of miniature, wood versions of itself. It's as if Borges was running a toy store.

See some more new In A Bags after the jump.

Muji ABC & Kanji Stamp Sets

You know the old saying: there are no atheists in Muji Xmas Gift Departments. Once again, the minimalist, eco-friendly, no-frills retailer has come up with a giant mountain of stuff I want to buy.

First up in the Mujimix: great little stamp sets of the alphabet and kanji characters. A couple of Christmases ago we scored big by giving canvas tote bags the kid had decorated herself at Muji's in-store stamp stations. Now you can re-create that DIY fun at home.

The kanji set features ten characters chosen for their complex aesthetics and their random, upbeat meanings. Which makes them perfect for creating awesome, temporary redneck tattoos. Hopefully there'll be a martial arts expansion set soon with the characters for "strength" and "power."

Muji Alphabet Stamp Set, £7.95 [muji.eu via dt spotter jan]
Muji Kanji Stamp Set, £7.95 [muji.eu]

Rumor Leaking 2: Electric Bugaboo

OK, now I'm hearing from a second retailer that in fact, the impending extinction of the Bugaboo Frog is a sign of a new Bugaboo model on the horizon. So what's up with that?

Has anyone seen a camo'd up stroller undergoing cold weather testing in Norway? Or seen a spy shot from a gas station in Death Valley somewhere? Somebody throw me a frickin' bone here, people. I'm the Bug man. Need the info.

"RETRO SUV"

Spotted at Target, originally uploaded by daddytypes.

Alright, suburbs, you win this round.

This pristine Buick Estate Wagon was the first thing I saw on my way out of Target when we left the city Saturday for a Case of Pampers run [and a visit to Chick-Fil-A].

I don't like nosing around other peoples' cars, but it looked immaculate and original. The only addition appeared to be a large pair of rear speakers, and those might have been put in in the 80's.

The license plate said, "RETRO SUV," so this car is clearly in self-aware hands. I debated sticking around and waiting for the highly evolved owner to emerge, if only so I could see the clamshell tailgate open. But K2 let me know that she was more than ready to go.

Related from Hemmings Blog: "I remember my dad saying it could pass just about everything but a gas station." [blog.hemmings.com]

Twitstorm Erupts After Motrin Ad Mocks Babywearing

So you leave the office Friday from your job as the account exec of the Motrin online account, and you think things are going fine.

Then you get in Monday to find out that a mob of Twittering mombloggers has called for your termination because the Motrin.com webisode you guys made where the mom complained that all this "trendy" babywearing was killing her back? Not. Funny.

And now your client is forced to send out a mass apology email where she's forced to use her own kids as a human shield:

I am the Vice President of Marketing for McNeil Consumer Healthcare. I have responsibility for the Motrin Brand, and am responding to concerns about recent advertising on our website. I am, myself, a mom of 3 daughters.

We certainly did not mean to offend moms through our advertising...

Meanwhile, there's not a single mention of dads anywhere as the Twit's hitting the fan across the entire country. What were they doing about it? It was the weekend, so I assume they were all taking the kids to McDonald's for hotcakes and sausage.

update: alright, here's the clip. "Mocks" might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I agree it was offensive, if only for using the words "bod" and "toootally" in unironic ways.

Moms and Motrin [nyt's parenting [sic] blog, via dt reader dt]

At-Home MacGyver Helps Fire-Stricken Strangers In OC

A minivan, some scrap wood, some zip ties, a Sharpie, a desire to help, and an at-home parent's keep-it-together-through-the-day expertise is all [sic] Paul Prunty needed to help out a whole neighborhood of people chased from their homes by fire in Anaheim Hills, CA.

Stranger Helps Fire Victims Get Information [latimes via jason]

WHOA, Bugaboo Frog On Its Last Legs??

A baby gear retailer just emailed me saying they've heard that Bugaboo will be discontinuing the Frog in "early 2009."

The retailer speculated as to whether that meant there'd be a new model coming out, or what. I have no idea, but I could see how the Cameleon makes the Frog redundant at best. It could be the case that 8 or 9 out of 10 Frog sales were lost Cameleon sales.

As for new product, I'd think Bugaboo would want a platform to launch a new product to retailers, something to get some in-store hype. And since there was nothing about new products at either ABC Kids or Kind+Jugend, I wouldn't think to look for a new Frog-like replacement before the Fall of 2009. But if the Cameleon actually soaks up the Frog market, and the Bee covers the more traditional stroller shopper, what new product do they really need? [hint: double double double double double]

In the mean time, I bet there will be Frogs on sale sometime in the near future. And then you can use the money you save to buy some dope rims and billet bling.

[image: A Bugaboo Frog Classic with the original snowflake logo, for sale on marktplaats.nl last summer]

iPhone Baby Monitor App: The Call Is Coming From Inside The Crib!

I don't know about your kid, but K2 does not have an iPhone. So that means I'd have to load CodeGoo's Baby Monitor onto my iPhone, and then program it to call me on my other phone when it detects some baby noise. And then I'd leave it in the crib with her, because it also calls me when K2 picks it up, just in case she wakes up in silent mode. And I'd have to be sure to set call forwarding, so that people calling me on my iPhone don't inadvertently wake up the sleeping kid.

Only problem: I don't have an iPhone, either.

um, released two weeks ago: Baby Monitor by CodeGoo, $0.99 "for the first week only" [codegoo via geekdad]

Friday Freakout: Argentine Time Edition

The wife's in Argentina, and I hear everything starts late in there. Though I also accept that it's hard to ruin your weekend with alarming parenting news and way-too preliminary research findings if I'm only getting the post out on Sunday.

Fort Bragg Has A Surge Of Its Own

I know what you did starting last fall, 82nd Airborne. The entire division of the US Army was deployed to Iraq for The Surge last summer, and now it seems that births are up 50 percent at the on-base medical center at Fort Bragg, in Fayetteville, NC. Maternity fatigues are back-ordered. Dad 101 classes are full. The embroidery cart at the mall is going gangbusters. The local Target sells out of cribs every day. And nondeployment status for new moms was upped from three months to six. New dads don't get nondeployment status; they ship out and have to keep getting reintroduced to their kids when they come back.

Army Base Teems With Babies as Stork Lands With Airborne [nyt]

Pups.It Italian Indie Plush Is Freakin' Awes... Sigh

Crazy creatures, quirky personalities and backstory, imaginary cartoon world, lumpy plush toys, tight jeans--holy smokes, they actually call themselves "The Kidult Lab." But here's the catch: It's Italian!

Wake me up when someone pulls one of those Marvel vs. DC special edition tricks and pits all these hermetic, kidult-y plushiverses against each other. Otherwise, I feel like this random indie plush thing is done.

Pups.it and Pups.it's flickr stream [pups.it, flickr]
oy: Ludiko: The Kidult Lab [ludiko.it]

Patentastic Standup Car Seat, c. 1959

Between the advent of the car and the formal legislation of the car seat, thousands of inventors spent decades laying the innovative groundwork for the modern products we depend on to protect our children. And though patents expire, these designs' ability to entertain with their sheer WTF-itude is eternal.

So thank you Daniel Berlin of Philadelphia, for your 1959 invention of the stand-up car seat, which allows a child of three or four to hang off the back of the front seats in cherry picker-like comfort.

Patent No. 2888061, CHILD'S SIT OR STAND CAR SEAT, Daniel Berlin, 1959 [google patents]

Whoops, Happy Belated Birthday, Minivan!

The wife's representing at the official opening of some gigantic observatory in Argentina, so I've been a little overbooked the last few days. Otherwise, I'm sure I totally would have been celebrating the 25th anniversary of Chrysler's Dodge Caravan as the Birth of The Minivan. [*cough* Fiat Multipla 600 *cough cough*]

And then I would have cheered on Jalopnik's feature on the Ten Greatest Minivans of All Time, even though like 2/3 of them have already been on Daddy Types. Because let's face it, that's the only way a minivan is gonna get on this site. [You keep right on moving, #11.]

The list's a little scattershot, with both mainstream MPV's like the Honda Odyssey and the Mazda M5, and crazy one-offs like the Renault F1 Espace and the Ford SHOstar. But the end result is that it makes me want to track down a clean&tight, early 1990's Toyota Previa. Man, I loved those things.

The Ten Greatest Minivans Of All Time [jalopnik]

Sweet Slot-Together Rocker/Chair From Master Woodcraft [?]

If it becomes as useless as "Eames Era," I'm sure I'll come to hate it, but for now, I count it as progress that an eBay seller tries to rope in business by calling something "Creative Playthings Era."

It certainly got my attention on this sweet, biomorphic, slot-together plywood chair/rocker by a company I've never heard of before: Master Woodcraft, Inc. No date is given, but consensus in the mid-century design academy says the "Can't Sell A Child's Chair Without A One-Puppy/Clown Band Painted On It Era" ran from the late 1950's to the mid-60's.

eames creative playthings era CHILD CHAIR ROCKER toy, currently $10+$20 s/h, auction ends Nov. 17 [ebay]

Nirvana Baby, 17, Going Through Awkward Fame Stage

The naked baby from the cover of Nevermind is 17 now. It's an age where kids face face challenges figuring out who they are, and experiment with addictive drugs like alcohol, heroin--and arbitrary fame derived from their parents dropping them in a Pasadena pool for $200 when they were babies.

I have no real advice for the still-young Spencer Elden besides pointing out that Jodie Foster was the Coppertone Baby, and you don't see her constantly reliving her first, parent-induced moment of fame. And Brooke Shields was the Ivory Soap baby, and yet look at how successfully she--OK, bad example. My point is, it should set off some serious alarm bells if MTV, the network which provides intermittent lifetime employment to such made-up celebrities as Puck and Mormon Julie, can't figure out why you recreated the Nevermind photo, and why you equate a nude baby photo with being "the world's biggest porn star."

But if you're trying to provide a cautionary tale for a new generation of parents who should be careful what they wish for their kids, thanks. It doesn't get you off the hook for making me feel so old, though.

Nirvana Baby -- All Grown Up -- Re-Creates Classic Nevermind Cover Image [mtv.com via tmn]

I'd Like To Be Told. When It's Going To Suck: Busted Mister Rogers Talking Key Chain

A few months back, I felt like a heretic even asking the question, whether some slightly expanded, thoughtful licensed merchandise from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood might not be a nice alternative to parents facing down the Sesame Street juggernaut.

Now I see this: MISTER ROGERS IN YOUR POCKET, a $5 plastic talking keychain that features six tinnily recorded sayings from the Late Great himself. There are limits to "I like you just the way you are," and this piece of junk has exceeded them.

On the bright side, I guess this shows that the Rogers organization isn't opposed to merchandise on principle; it just has horrible, horrible licensing advice.

Mister Rogers in Your Pocket talking keychain, $4.99 [stupid.com]

Cookie In The Oven?

The upscale online boutique Stupid.com is selling this fetus-shaped cookie cutter for $10, and that's all I'll have to say about that.

update: Except to add that Jason Higgins, the creator of Fetal Bites, The Original Fetus-shaped Cookie Cutter, has surfaced on BoingBoing to rightly claim a bit of the glory--and that sweet, retail margin--from one of his more aggressive wholesalers.

Fetal Bites cookie cutter, by Hogmalion & Co. [hogmalion.com]
Fetus Cookie Cutter, $9.99 [stupid.com via boingboing and craftzine]
Also via craftzine: HOWTO make your own damn cookie cutters from clip art and a foil pan [jugglingfrogs.com]

Solar-Powered Stroller At Tokyo Design Week

Design Week - student's exhibition, originally uploaded by pingmag.

Somebody from somewhere showed this concept study for a solar-powered stroller at 100% Futures, the student exhibition at Tokyo Design Week.

I can't find credits for the designer. I can't find a map of the venue to triangulate the name of his or her school. I can't figure out what the solar power powers. Or how this would fit on the train. Or where you put the frame after you load the seat into the car.

Was it really even there? Or is it one of those legendary Japanese ghost strollers, sent to haunt practical-minded bloggers with their lack of background information and useless niftiness? So white... So pretty... Must post...

another info-free sighting. And another. They're all around me!

Hey, Neighbor! We Heard You Had A Baby!

The NY Times' Julie Scelfo reports that thanks to Ricki Lake's documentary about having her baby in her bathtub in the West Village, home births are all cool now in the city. And not just among "hippie freaks or religious fundamentalists," either.

We can assume that this trend is real because some home birth specialist midwives are booked six months in advance. And it's all happening even though people worry about the rug and the sofa; or whether their one-bedroom can hold the birthing pool; or where everyone's going to sit; or--and this seems to be the real sticking point--what the neighbors will think about 15-40 hours of primal labor noisemaking.

I'm not sure, but I think the protocol for throwing a loud birthing in a New York City apartment building is to give the neighbors a courtesy heads up, and then to give them a bottle of champagne and an invitation to come on over if they hear a party.

Baby, You're Home [nyt]