GET OVER YOURSELF.
Evidentally I've grown up lately. Or, at the very least, the things that are enraging my friends (or at least my livejournal friendslist) aren't pissing me off. In fact, the fact that they're enraging my friends list, is.
1.) Reagan is awesome, and I'm impressed that he won, and American didn't just pick the obvious choices of George Washington, Abe Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. Reagan kicked everyone's ass at being an American by being not ONLY influential in the means of politics, but also popular in the means of fame & movie-making. Tell me that's not the real american dream. Also: he was a good husband, he avoided assasination and he did important things for the economy. That's good enough for me. Go Regan, and Go Americans for actually putting a little bit of fucking thought into the survey.
1.5) shut the fuck up about the survey being run by AOL. AOL probably has a better sampling of this country than any other company. and you use AIM, don't you. so shut up.
2.) Quit bitching about this Nike thing. If Dischord made a poster that said "JUST DO IT PUNKSTYLE" no one would blink, but as soon as it's the other way around, it's Nike taking advantage of all of these poor companies. Well those poor companies need to get lawyers if that's the case, and take it to court. That's what Nike would do if it were the other way around. I'm completely tired of bullshit punk "companies" that only want the real rules of business when they apply in their own favor. Run a real business, or be a punk. You can't do both. I'm sorry. It's nice to have business ethos, but it's also nice to have a fantasy football league. unless you're running your business in a fantasy world, you're going to have to play by the real rules some times.
Anyway, back to the Nike thing: there are Parody laws. this is an obvious PARODY. They reshot the photo, and changed one word. That's good enough for all of the "Booger King" and "Old Gravy" Shirts, and it's good enough for you, too. Remember when those were funny? (ok, me neither.) but at least most of them are clever. and if I were running an ad campaign for a festival called "Major Threat" and wanted something clever and remarkable, a parody of Minor Threat might cross my mind.
Something else you probably haven't considered is that the person who headed this up is PROBABLY a minor threat FAN. You see, some of their fans (more than likely ones that liked them you know, when they were playing, even) have grown up and gotten real jobs and are Advertising Execs. They were probably thinking, something along the lines of "How cool will it be to have an homage to this band I used to love." and not "I'm TOTALLY going to RIP OFF this band, and TOTALLY GET AWAY WITH IT."
If you want to take the ridiculousness a step further, is Dischord really the one who you should be worried about here? What about the band themselves? What about the photographer who took the picture and designed the 7" cover? Is the copyright still theirs? OH GOD DISCHORD IS TOTALLY RIPPING THEM OFF. HOW CAN YOU LIKE ANY BAND THAT IS SIGNED ONTO A MAJOR LABEL. OR A MINOR LABEL FOR THAT MATTER. I'M SO PUNK I DON'T BELEIVE IN CONTRACTS. OR PAPER.
Obviously, I'm being a little tongue in cheek here. I don't think that Nike made the best business decision for using the image without considering the legal repurcussions, or that Dischord is making the best business decision by making statements like, "they stole it and were not happy about it. They're a huge corporation [waah waaah WAAAH.]" But I'm also trying to be blunt and perhaps a little insulting. It's really cool to hate the man when you're in high school, but afterward, you either do something about it, or you give it up. The Internet gives us an awful tool and provides a comfortable space for us all to be "desk chair activists" by posting how much we hate things in our blog. and fuck if it does any fucking good. You unhappy with this country? Do something about it. otherwise, shut the fuck up.
1.) Reagan is awesome, and I'm impressed that he won, and American didn't just pick the obvious choices of George Washington, Abe Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. Reagan kicked everyone's ass at being an American by being not ONLY influential in the means of politics, but also popular in the means of fame & movie-making. Tell me that's not the real american dream. Also: he was a good husband, he avoided assasination and he did important things for the economy. That's good enough for me. Go Regan, and Go Americans for actually putting a little bit of fucking thought into the survey.
1.5) shut the fuck up about the survey being run by AOL. AOL probably has a better sampling of this country than any other company. and you use AIM, don't you. so shut up.
2.) Quit bitching about this Nike thing. If Dischord made a poster that said "JUST DO IT PUNKSTYLE" no one would blink, but as soon as it's the other way around, it's Nike taking advantage of all of these poor companies. Well those poor companies need to get lawyers if that's the case, and take it to court. That's what Nike would do if it were the other way around. I'm completely tired of bullshit punk "companies" that only want the real rules of business when they apply in their own favor. Run a real business, or be a punk. You can't do both. I'm sorry. It's nice to have business ethos, but it's also nice to have a fantasy football league. unless you're running your business in a fantasy world, you're going to have to play by the real rules some times.
Anyway, back to the Nike thing: there are Parody laws. this is an obvious PARODY. They reshot the photo, and changed one word. That's good enough for all of the "Booger King" and "Old Gravy" Shirts, and it's good enough for you, too. Remember when those were funny? (ok, me neither.) but at least most of them are clever. and if I were running an ad campaign for a festival called "Major Threat" and wanted something clever and remarkable, a parody of Minor Threat might cross my mind.
Something else you probably haven't considered is that the person who headed this up is PROBABLY a minor threat FAN. You see, some of their fans (more than likely ones that liked them you know, when they were playing, even) have grown up and gotten real jobs and are Advertising Execs. They were probably thinking, something along the lines of "How cool will it be to have an homage to this band I used to love." and not "I'm TOTALLY going to RIP OFF this band, and TOTALLY GET AWAY WITH IT."
If you want to take the ridiculousness a step further, is Dischord really the one who you should be worried about here? What about the band themselves? What about the photographer who took the picture and designed the 7" cover? Is the copyright still theirs? OH GOD DISCHORD IS TOTALLY RIPPING THEM OFF. HOW CAN YOU LIKE ANY BAND THAT IS SIGNED ONTO A MAJOR LABEL. OR A MINOR LABEL FOR THAT MATTER. I'M SO PUNK I DON'T BELEIVE IN CONTRACTS. OR PAPER.
Obviously, I'm being a little tongue in cheek here. I don't think that Nike made the best business decision for using the image without considering the legal repurcussions, or that Dischord is making the best business decision by making statements like, "they stole it and were not happy about it. They're a huge corporation [waah waaah WAAAH.]" But I'm also trying to be blunt and perhaps a little insulting. It's really cool to hate the man when you're in high school, but afterward, you either do something about it, or you give it up. The Internet gives us an awful tool and provides a comfortable space for us all to be "desk chair activists" by posting how much we hate things in our blog. and fuck if it does any fucking good. You unhappy with this country? Do something about it. otherwise, shut the fuck up.