Throughout history, there have been some notable rivalries. Thomas Becket and Henry II, Hitler and Churchill, Ali and Frazier, Adbusters and Wall Street. Now to that list you can add Dean McLaughlin and the Fake Ad Czar.
For nearly twenty years, the Fake Ad Czar has produced this little contest every month, and nearly every month, McLaughlin, the Moriarty to the Czar’s Sherlock Holmes, has entered. Along the way, McLaughlin has eschewed such technological breakthroughs as the word processor, the fax machine, and email, preferring instead to send his entry on a typewritten piece of stationery, even signing it by hand in a truly Ted Kaczynski-esque affectation.
In many of those entries, McLaughlin was critical of the contest, calling individual Fake Ads–among other things–repetitive, unoriginal, and unchallenging.
How it galls the Fake Ad Czar, then, to announce that this month, McLaughlin’s entry was chosen from 122 correct entries as our winner. It’s as if the Monopoly at McDonald’s grand prize had been won by the Burger King.
“Your October Fake Ad is Rosemary Goliath Bassoon Studio” on page 19 of the October issue, McLaughlin wrote. “Easily found by the impossibly long address number, which incidentally contained ‘arborweb’ in your usual alphanumeric code, supplemented by the nonexistent N. Liberty. The surname merely ices the cake. Another ho hum job.”
A-ha! Here, the Fake Ad Czar has the last laugh! “Ho hum” should be hyphenated! Take that, McLaughlin! Take that! Oh, and yes, you can take your prize to the Ann Arbor District Library’s Friends Book Shop, as you requested. As you always write at the end of your entries, “Enjoy.” Enjoy, indeed.
To enter this month’s contest, find the Fake Ad in the November issue and follow the instructions on the Back Page. Hint: the ad always includes the name of the Observer’s website, arborweb.com.
