I spy

During last Sunday’s return trip from Portland I saw these two remarkable things and took pictures of them* so I could share them with you.

Picture 1: Ugly bus


What’s the deal with this bus? The back is an ad for some bathroom fixture supplier or something. Hard to say. The side is an ad for Washington Mutual. What ad unit is that? It looks like the band of seaweed on a piece of nigiri sushi. This bus is an advertising media travesty.

(By the way, the grammarian in me struggles with this ad’s headline: “To overdraft is human. To waive one is WaMulian.” Referencing a verb as though it were a noun—just because the word can be both—bugs me. But I’ll live.)

Picture 2: Yellow ribbon


Because of the military bases in the area, you’ll see plenty of yellow ribbon stickers and red-white-and-blue ribbon stickers (or are they magnets?) on vehicles south of Seattle. This one caught my eye for the obvious reason that it’s just a bit different. If the photo weren’t blurry, you’d be able to see that it reads “Question war.”


* Taking photos while driving is highly dangerous. The author does not recommend such activities. Not does he recommend driving while talking on the phone, texting, eating, fighting with your spouse, watching movies on your iPhone, assembling IKEA furniture, darning socks, making shadow puppets, rolling handmade cigarettes or dancing the electric slide.