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Think Disturbing (5/18/00)
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We don't want to get into a whole cultural stereotyping thing, here, but do you all remember the Mike Myers character "Dieter" on Saturday Night Live? The one who hosted the German TV show "Sprockets," as in "Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance"? "Touch my monkey"? "Happy as a little girl"? Ah, it's all coming back to you now. Well, normally we'd balk at the generalization that Germans can take everyday, normal subjects and make them twisted and strange, but we have to say, we definitely flashed on Dieter when faithful viewer Jens Baumeister told us what happened to the "Think different" slogan in Germany.
It seems Jens' friend Sebastian was surfing around the German 'net and stumbled upon something rather disturbing. One might expect http://www.thinkdifferent.de/ to be a German site selling Macs, but it's not. Not by a long shot. As it turns out, the site is owned by a company called Bennetts, who is hawking "känguruhfleisch"; that's kangaroo meat, for those who don't grok the language. Now, before you get all outraged or whatever, this isn't just any old kangaroo meat-- it's "low-fat, best quality" kangaroo meat. Mmmmm... Think tasty!
We wonder if Apple is aware that its slogan is being used to sell the flesh of fuzzy, bouncy critters from Down Under? More specifically, we wonder if Uncle Steve the vegan is on board with this plan. We haven't the foggiest idea whether international or German trademark law gives Apple any avenue to take action, but we imagine that if Apple knew that its famous slogan is being used in this fashion, those hyperactive Apple lawyers would be chomping at the bit to do a little "cease and desist"-ing, seizing of domain names, etc. Just a little bit of surreality to add to your day...
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SceneLink (2304)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 5/18/00 episode: May 18, 2000: Apple may be working on a wireless optical mouse-- with no buttons. Meanwhile, the former head of Apple's Game Sprockets team calms our fears about Mac OS X, and in Germany, Apple's "Think different" slogan is being used to sell something a bit disturbing...
Other scenes from that episode: 2302: Free Your Mouse (5/18/00) Ah, the Apple USB mouse-- known affectionately to some as "the hockey puck" and not-so-affectionately to others as "that thing I threw out my window." While there are a few of us lurking about who actually like its fingertip-oriented design, the vast majority of people with hands consider its circular shape and tiny dimensions to be the input device equivalent of a pair of stiletto heels that's two sizes too small... 2303: Word From The Top (5/18/00) Far be it from us to oppose angst for angst's sake, given that it's pretty much what we thrive on, but for those of you who are still bemoaning the apparent fate of Apple's Game Sprockets developer APIs, we should mention that a couple of things have set our fevered minds at rest...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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