Saturday, November 14, 2015

Are You A Friend Of Pootie?

The original Starbucks logo was similar to the current version, except the mermaid had titties. This goes way back to 1971. It took Starbucks a while to get off the ground, and it's probably because of the titties. People were disappointed to find that coffee was what was on the menu, and not titties.

Mind you, she still has them. They are implied by the curves of her hair, and all the more powerful for that, because they force the brain to do the work of imagining them. The brain can dawdle at its task as long as it wants. It's the same reason reading a book is more engaging than watching a movie. The brain gets to construct the scenery. In the case of the Starbucks logo, it gets to leave some of the scaffolding up, and you're that much more readily drawn into the next Starbucks as it appears, which could be as soon as a half block away.  It's the power of the logo. Also, they sell drugs.

The logo is also brilliant because unlike your average mermaid, all enticement up above and frustration below, this one has a forked tail, and moreover, she obviously has it all spread apart for you. There's your coffee with cream, right there.

The latest iteration of the Starbucks logo assumes we all have our implied delight firmly in place in our heads, and leaves out the "Starbucks" wordage. It signals that the company has arrived, and like Nike and its swoosh, it doesn't need to spell it all out for us anymore.

And that's when it occurred to me that Murrmurrs really needed a logo. And we already have a dog-o. Moreover, he is an extremely handsome dog-o, and vain enough to embrace the role. Pootie is an interesting fellow and interested in many things, primarily being famous. He is not shy and is a natural leader. He has a number of friends, all of whom have accepted a subservient role. Scooter is typical. Scooter is a perfectly fine wiener dog, but when he arrived here from the Arfnage he was immediately drafted into one of Pootie's many enterprises, being the entire workforce of Poot 'N' Scoot Janitorial Services, a baseboard-cleaning outfit that accepts payment in M&Ms. Scooter does 100% of the work involved, but Pootie, as he points out, is the brains of the operation, and keeps all the M&Ms. We're not certain Pootie is a Democrat. But anyway, Scooter is just fine with this role, as long as he gets to call himself a Friend Of Pootie, and that's the way the rest of us feel, too.

There are already several hand-painted shirts out there emblazoned with Pootie's handsome mug and F.O.P. above. There is a Pootie Fan Club whose benefits include (all right, it's the only benefit) a laminated membership card. And now, since the Poot had been gracious enough to grace the screen here for lo these many years (seven), we here at Murrmurrs, Inc. would like to give anyone the chance to become an official Friend Of Pootie. Yes. There are T-shirts. We here at Murrmurrs, Inc. are going to begin with the proposition that we have arrived, even though we haven't, and leave out all mention of Murrmurrs.

Imagine the thrill of traveling somewhere and spying someone else wearing an F.O.P. shirt! Why, there are twenty-six of you in Australia alone, and two in Tasmania. If you do not run into someone with an F.O.P. shirt, you might run into someone who asks you what it's all about, and you can proudly say you are a Friend Of Pootie (he won't mind) and that means you're also a fan of Murrmurrs (I won't mind). If you see someone with an F.O.P. shirt while you're wearing one, you'll feel extra special.

Special-Bus Special is still special.


So are you a Friend Of Pootie? Order an F.O.P. shirt in any style or color and soon you'll be rockin' the Poot. If you want a dark shirt, click here. For a snazzy white, click here. There are tons of options. Please supply your own head.





28 comments:

  1. titties on the menu at Stabucks? I didn't know that - I might have switched to coffee.
    the Ol'Buzzard

    ReplyDelete
  2. A couple of Limericks in celebration:

    What's emblazoned on that little cutie?
    It's apparent he / she is a beauty
    The club is exclusive
    But also effusive
    You, too can be a Friend of Pootie

    Strangers will think we're astute
    And of this there can be no dispute
    Chest no longer bare
    We'll delight to declare
    We all are Friends of the Poot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww! Commemorative Pomes! I was going to do one in response, but all I came up with was "heart" and "part" and I could see the trajectory there, and stopped myself just in time.

      Delete
  3. Love your new word--arfnage!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh that! We're not sure where Pootie came from--he stowed away in a box on Christmas in 1989. But his buddy Hajerle and Scooter both came from the arfnage.

      Delete
    2. I just got it. Arfnage! Now that's clever. Unlike moi ...

      Delete
    3. The other day a friend related a clever thing I once said. I not only didn't remember saying it, but I didn't get it at first.

      Delete
  4. "It's the power of the logo. Also, they sell drugs."

    And so do you. The drug of great writing. And pictures of stinkin' cute kids and stuffed animals. Fantastic logo!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You GO Murr Brewster!! Dang!! I should get you to kick my arf to get that Chet Baker T out there...it's all designed; I got as far as looking at samples and trying to pick the fabric for the shirts and lost all my steam. Dang!! Must...dooo....shirrrrttt.... Anyhoo, lemme know how it goes. I love it. It's adorbs!! xoxo jz I also loved "arfnage."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh shoot, you're 99% of the way there. Will commence privately kicking butt immediately. Or maybe tomorrow. It's getting late.

      Delete
    2. YES!!! FOP shirt ordered. Now waiting for the chance to order the FOCB t-shirt...

      Delete
  6. I will never see the Starbucks logo innocently every again!
    The kid wearing the FOP shirt sure looks unhappy about it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I LOVE the baby FOP suit. And I love Pootie. I'll check out the shirts immediately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a nice universal design. There are gobs of possibilities, but they take some checkin'.

      Delete
    2. I almost bought, but the Aussie dollar isn't looking so good right now; with the exchange rate plus delivery, I'll have to admire them from afar.

      Delete
    3. That would be just fine. And good news for you! If you admire hard enough and from far enough with enough sincerity, the FOP logo will begin to be emblazoned on your personal chest. Like stigmata. You will be the coolest kid in town!

      Delete
    4. My chest has granny wrinkles, will the FOP logo cover those? Or will Pootie look like grandpa Pootie?

      Delete
    5. Oh my goodness! Great-grandpappy Pootrick! We do have a picture. I can't find it now. But I will tell you that just as Black Don't Crack, Plush Don't Crush. If you do go for it, go for a sweatshirt. They're in there somewhere.

      Delete
  8. Wait just one minute! Talk about Starbucks selling drugs! You added that baby as enticement. Where does one acquire a Pootie onesie!? I need twosie of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I thought the Pootie onesie was small, until my grand-niece started swimming in it! But she's just wee. If you click on either of the links, there will be a chance down below to look at other styles, and there will be a thousand other styles, including the onesie. I couldn't find any way to make White available along with the Darks, because they required a different process. So go with the White if you want a white onesie, or Dark if you want to pick a color.

      Delete
  9. Is that anything like being a Friend of Bill?

    ReplyDelete