 sj |
||
|
||
BS: Express Your Inner Animal ?
|
|
|
Subject: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JohnInKansas Date: 22 Feb 13 - 04:05 PM In your face: New T-shirts put you in touch with your animal spirit By Alex Smith, TODAY For many, the most effective means of showcasing one's affinity for something is the T-shirt. Rock 'n' rollers wear them to proudly flaunt their beloved bands, sci-fi geeks to showcase their preferred "Star Wars" characters, and sports fans to display allegiance to their favorite teams. Until relatively recently, however, avid animal lovers have been largely excluded from this sartorially tribal ritual. Until now. A company called The Mountain offers an eye-catching array of T-shirts that cater squarely to fans of virtually all creatures great and small, featuring designs that are as brazen and bold as anything Iron Maiden or Metallica might offer. "We've always been an 'in your face' company," The Mountain's creative/licensing director, Michael McGloin, told TODAY.com. "I decided that we just needed to fully embrace our animal spirit and wear it loud and proud." And loud and proud they are. The Mountain's distinctive Big Face Tees feature disarmingly detailed, head-on portraits of a wide variety of animals, from the fuzzy to the ferocious. Regardless of the species, however, these shirts are guaranteed to make an impression. Walk into room sporting one of these, and absolutely no one will be left wondering what your favorite breed is. When it comes to The Mountain's philosophy, McGloin is just as assertive as his shirts. "I was looking at the trends in the market," he told TODAY.com via email, "and noticed that every single character-based brand out there was doing one-dimensional cartoon character faces on shirts. Solid color shirts with 'The Muppets' characters, 'Sesame Street' characters, 'Star Wars' characters and every other character-based brand. Then I looked at our catalog and saw that some of the designs that have been on our line the longest and still sell fantastically after all these years are the big-face animals. "I put two and two together, the light bulb went off and I told our sales staff that I was going to completely make over the company with Big Face T-shirts. The time was now, we had to do a massive offering or we'd get ripped off by everyone. So three years ago I started. We went after the most popular animals and dogs. Game on. We tore a hole in the T-shirt fabric of space and time!" [There are three pictures at the link, that must be seen to get much of an impression of what these very strange people are doing. The report continues: ...] That sort of spirited commitment carries over to the shirts; honestly, you've got to be pretty committed to wear them, becauze they're not especially subtle. But demand has been high. McGloin says he's continually fielding requests for designs featuring newer, different animals, and Big Face T-shirts have been spotted on such celebrities as actor Jack Black and Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs. And The Mountain is endeavoring to keep the Big Face T-shirts even further up in your face via a regular show on YouTube, The Big Face Show. What about you? Would you wear one of these shirts? And which animal would you choose? [A link at the video offers a "10% off" coupon, but I didn't see a link that showed a clear way to see the rest of their offerings, and I've been a little afraid to look for any more of this.] John |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: gnu Date: 22 Feb 13 - 04:07 PM Cooool. I might get one... I wonder what kinda animal I will UNLLEASH!? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: frogprince Date: 22 Feb 13 - 04:17 PM Gee, I wonder where we could see more of those! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Becca72 Date: 22 Feb 13 - 04:24 PM Love the bat face |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Bill D Date: 22 Feb 13 - 06:50 PM I think that solves a problem for a couple of birthdays. Except for the problem of choosing.......... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: ChanteyLass Date: 22 Feb 13 - 08:46 PM I was thinking "butterfly," but if the shirt showed an enlarged butterfly face--maybe not! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JennieG Date: 23 Feb 13 - 12:24 AM I think they're funny, I would wear a wombat....but what looks OK on a bloke may not look so good on a woman. Just imagine if the eyes were pushed forward by the breasts behind them.......talk about 3D then....! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Date: 23 Feb 13 - 07:36 AM Sigh. I live a few miles from The Mountain, and know many of the good folks who work there. Which means I have to see those lovely, er, ugly mugs possibly a bit more than most, as their "seconds" are offered to local businesses to sell at a discount. They are excellent local employers, though, and do a good bit for the local economy. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Rapparee Date: 23 Feb 13 - 07:45 AM ANIMAL!! ANIMAL!!! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: gnu Date: 23 Feb 13 - 07:47 AM JennieG... worse on some men. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 Feb 13 - 08:22 AM Now gnu, ya know the pig snout, or the hippopostremus would be perfectly displayed on lots of male beer bellies. John |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 Feb 13 - 09:35 AM Just noted elsewhere that I'm getting insert ads offering a 15% discount on entire stock for their "2013 Preview Sale." Their site that I visited to check the links only offered 10% off. (Maybe I need to clean out some cookies so they'll quit following me?) John |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 23 Feb 13 - 10:20 AM I can't see the point of clothing that is so visually distracting that you look at the clothes rather than at the other person's face. It seems like a denial of one's own identity. I guess this would work well for people who have a pretty fragile sense of identity in the first place....or who just like distracting other people in a really dramatic fashion to get their attention. I also notice that they don't have a T-shirt with a Chimp face on it. But...they do have one with a Dachshund. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: frogprince Date: 23 Feb 13 - 10:48 AM sigh..L.H., one of these days someone may mention something that you won't over-philosify. : ) I really honestly suspect that most of the people who buy these things just get a kick out of them. Maybe because of the connection to a pet, or to something they collect, or maybe as stark simple as being amused by the particular image. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 Feb 13 - 10:51 AM LH - Of course they don't have a chimp. That's 'cause baby orangs are cuter. But you have to admit that for some people giving those they meet something to look at other than their face should probably be considered a sort of public service, or maybe a kindness, or a display of empathetic concern for others???? I can see Chongo doing that, bein' the sweetheart he is ... John |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: jacqui.c Date: 23 Feb 13 - 11:00 AM Total agreement frogprince. I love the Grrrr. My future Daughter-in-law would go crazy for the Yorkie. Problem is, I'm not sure how they would work for those of us with big boobs. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Pete Jennings Date: 23 Feb 13 - 11:08 AM Now then, Jacqui, you'll get gnu and Rap all excited! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: frogprince Date: 23 Feb 13 - 11:19 AM "I'm not sure how they would work for those of us with big boobs." Why would being married to Kendall affect how the shirt would look on you? |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 23 Feb 13 - 03:30 PM Interesting point, JohninKansas. I can see where someone might want to have such a T-shirt just to remind them of an animal they are fond of...such as, in my case, a Dachshund. Kind of fun for special occasions. The faces seem overly large to me, but that's just a matter of taste, I suppose. As for looking for deeper meanings...well, one can find deeper meanings in absolutely anything if one cares to bother, but there seems to be little inclination in most people to do so...and there certainly isn't anything in our present day commercial culture or government or mass media to encourage them to do so, is there? To be a philosopher was considered an honor in ancient Greece or Rome. It's considered a waste of time in contemporary culture, because it doesn't make money for anyone. It doesn't encourage sales. That's subversive! Such people simply cannot be trusted to do what they are "supposed" to do, and should obviously be suppressed in every way possible. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JennieG Date: 23 Feb 13 - 04:10 PM Too true, alas, gnu! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Rapparee Date: 23 Feb 13 - 07:27 PM I'd like one of these. It truly expresses my inner animal. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JennieG Date: 23 Feb 13 - 07:40 PM Not permitted, Rap! Couldn't open that link. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 23 Feb 13 - 07:41 PM That webpage apparently no longer exists, Rap. It certainly didn't last long! I have ways of expressing my inner animal too, but they don't involve wearing fancy T-shirts. What I do is bob around on my perch restlessly and holler, "Awk! Polly doesn't want a cracker! You can take that stinking cracker and shove it up your ass! Polly wants OUT of this fucking CAGE!!!!!!!!!" It's very satisfying. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Joe_F Date: 23 Feb 13 - 08:21 PM My inner animal is already expressed in my outer animal. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 Feb 13 - 08:49 PM one can find deeper meanings in absolutely anything if one cares to bother, but there seems to be little inclination in most people to do so. So you're sayin' you think Win8 will be a best seller? To be a philosopher was considered an honor in ancient Greece or Rome. But wasn't there a lot of that hemlock stuff going on even then? Seems like a bunch of the "honored ones" died with honor for being what ya called 'em And they also honored the good gladiators, whose life expectancy was probably a little less even than for modern pro football players who live (on average) about 70% as long as the non-performers. Some things probably do change, but it's really hard to pin down which things. John |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Rapparee Date: 23 Feb 13 - 09:10 PM My inner animal. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 23 Feb 13 - 09:42 PM Again, John, your point is well taken. Being a philosopher has always been a bit dangerous, because it irritates the hell out of the average man when things he takes for granted are brought into question, and it is a philosopher's function to always rigorously question the status quo. It also irritates the ruling power structure, because their power depends on the status quo being maintained. That's also what got Jesus crucified. And he was a pretty spectacular philosopher who questioned just about every common assumption of his day...while counseling nonviolence. Violent people in high places simply can't tolerate someone like that. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: frogprince Date: 23 Feb 13 - 10:02 PM 'course they might not have crucified him. if he hadn't drove them nuts analyzing why they wore the tee shirts they did... |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: ChanteyLass Date: 24 Feb 13 - 01:50 PM I, too, am seeing lots of ads from that company now. I just clicked on one that appeared on Mudcat. While there, I clicked on Size Chart. Wow! There's a size for everyone, I think. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 24 Feb 13 - 02:26 PM You talk big now, fp, but you'll be sorry after I rise again... ;-) |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: jacqui.c Date: 24 Feb 13 - 03:58 PM Any chance of ending the thread creep and getting back to the fun idea that the OP put across? If this thread isn't your cup of tea leave it alone. Others of us like it without the preaching. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: kendall Date: 24 Feb 13 - 03:59 PM There's no accounting for taste. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Bill D Date: 24 Feb 13 - 04:12 PM Showed these to my wife...luckily she only wants 15-20 of them. (Tending toward a Cardinal so far.) |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 24 Feb 13 - 06:11 PM Yes, well, I feel no urge to buy one of those T-shirts, but if I did, it would be the one with the Dachshund face. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Bill D Date: 24 Feb 13 - 10:05 PM And my wife thinks the Dachshund is a really excellent image....she commented on it as we went thru them. |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 24 Feb 13 - 11:15 PM Here it is: Dachsund T-shirt What a lovely sight! |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Don Firth Date: 25 Feb 13 - 09:09 PM One needs to understand the distinction between philosophizing and—pontificating. Don Firth |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Bill D Date: 25 Feb 13 - 09:29 PM "One" does..... *grin* |
|
Subject: RE: BS: Express Your Inner Animal ? From: Little Hawk Date: 26 Feb 13 - 12:05 AM Yes, indeed. ;-) |
