Illustration by Bob AulYour monthly newsletter goes straight into the trash; in creative firms, we look forward to the dispatch and rip it apart with glee—if we can spare the time. But yesterday I had to dig it out of its receptacle because I couldn't believe what caught my eye: one of the most tasteless, insensitive, tacky, inappropriate and racist bits of “humor” I've ever encountered. Believe me: I work in a design studio; I know tasteless. The “Useful Phrases to Know if Captured by a Terrorist While in the Middle East” on the back page of the newsletter offends on so many levels. What purpose does it serve for you to perpetuate the stereotype that all Middle Easterners are terrorists? How is it funny to make light of being a POW or hostage? Why is it acceptable to butcher and disrespect another language (or, by the way, the English language—as demonstrated by the legion of typos throughout your newsletter)? But most of all, why now? Are you out of your fucking mind?
You've always been offensive for your hideous logo and horrendous abuse of fonts, your bad typesetting and your shitty “customer service,” but now you're also an Orange County redneck racist dumbfuck company? Excellent. Thanks for letting us know. We'll be taking our low-end crappy print jobs elsewhere.
Send anonymous thanks, confessions or accusations —changing or deleting the names of the guilty and innocent—to “Hey, You!” c/oOC Weekly, P.O. Box 10788, Costa Mesa, CA 92627-0247, or e-mail us at le*****@oc******.com">le*****@oc******.com.
