I (Heart) Wacky Packages

Thanks to Topps Chewing Gum, I became aware of the power of successful branding long before I made a career out of it. But instead of analyzing the “art” of advertising, I studied the science of lampooning advertising, which was way more fun, and instructional, too. I learned at the Temple of Wacky Packages, the juvenile, scatological and violently rude and funny little stickers Topps sold, with gum, at candy counters across the US during the 1970s and ’80s. This work was way ahead of its time, before Conan and Letterman started riffing on products, packaging and advertising on a nightly basis. The satire was cutting, and the artwork gross and brilliantly painted. It was inspirational, and subversive, produced at a time when the status was quo, and there were still seven words you couldn’t say on television.

Now there’s an amazing collection of the original artwork and stickers themselves, published by Harry Abrams, with text by Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist. Before he created the ground-breaking Maus series, Spiegelman interned at Topps, where he created the Wacky Packages, writing most of the copy and commissioning the best of Mad Magazine’s artists to illustrate them. Talk about an all-star lineup.

The book is a great reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. And it’s also a reminder of the temporary nature of consumer products–a bunch of the brands they make fun of are no longer around. One last thing–the book is brilliantly designed; check out the binding art. It should be on every brand manager’s (and art director’s) shelf . . .