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McClain Finlon Pranks Qwest?

Ex-McClain Finlon employees are on the loose (not really) enacting their own kind of revenge on Qwest for taking the account to Chicago and continuing to do the world’s worst advertising. This “experi-stunt” had pranksters collect stacks of Qwest phone books that Dex routinely abandons in the lobbies of offices and apartments throughout Denver. Then they built a sculpture which was 2 feet, 6 inches high and rectangular in shape, approximating the look of an enormous phone book. Go get ‘em, McClain.

(Via The Latest Word)

407 days ago / / Link

Comment

  1. That’s the best they could come up with? Stack a bunch of phone books into a whopping 2.5’ rectangular phone book? Not much of a prank.

    No giant middle finger viewable from the upper floors, no caustic message for qwest employees?

    I guess the years of cranking out mindless Qwest stuff has disabled any creative thought. Why is this even on here, I thought the point was to help denver suck LESS.

    — that's it?? · May 23, 10:03 AM · #

  2. What a waste of time, just a bunch of build up for no punchline. Way to go! You showed them… I guess.

    — i agree · May 23, 10:42 AM · #

  3. Umm, so it’s not really ex-mcclain people? YOU read it again. Not so clear.

    — that's it?? · May 23, 01:37 PM · #

  4. I’m pretty sure that Dex isn’t a part of Qwest anymore. Qwest divested themselves of the profitable directory business a number of years ago in an effort to raise their stock price and reduce debt.

    So a Yellow Pages stunt of any kind, even this pointless one, directed at the company that used to own the directory business seems, at best, misdirected and, at worst, just plain stupid.

    — AppleZ · May 23, 01:41 PM · #

  5. AppleZ is right, Dex spun off a few years ago. Qwest is no longer in the phone book market. And uh, yeah, taking a bunch of things that are rectangular and making a giant rectangle with them isn’t creative, it’s warehouse management.

    — The Artistic Mercenary™ · May 23, 03:36 PM · #

  6. IS reject bougois arm-chair quarterback and desk-jockey critique!

    IS minimalist sculpture donated for plaza to worker enjoy sitting and eating lunch! Minimalist sculpture about purity of form not message! Message is lie to enslave proletariat! Middle-finger idea lowest common denominator! Minimalist sculpture serious! No message! About form and materiel only. Did you not learn “less is more” in pathetic Colorado design school? No knowledge of Gestalt theory and impossibility of perceptual separation!?

    Dex not important! Dex lap dog of Qwest!!! Dex building in Centennial Colorado — not important! No symbol value! Book is phone book. Qwest is phone company!

    You are lap dog of capitalism advertising! Creativity sold to bidder! Corporate dollar your master!

    Part of problem. NOT solution!!!!

    — IS · May 24, 11:47 AM · #

  7. Obviously this piece is somewhat successful because it has generated conversation within the community. I think it goes further than what you see on the youtube video, however.. these phone books have been collected over many years with this installation in mind. Conceptually this is a great piece. It is well thought out and is something that doesn’t need good aesthetic to be successful. Personally I thought that the giant phone book and simply saying to security ‘I don’t know anything, I am supposed to drop these off here’ was great. A giant middle finger would have been cool, but that really wouldn’t have been any more successful than a big rectangle. Aesthetic only counts for 5% in this instance while concept takes up the other 95%

    — Slay · May 25, 10:11 AM · #

  8. IS the best post evar!!!!1!!!

    — AppleZ · May 27, 11:13 AM · #

  9. This was so poorly thought out. Not only did they use Dex but also a competitor of Dex – Yellow Book. This is like pulling a prank on McDonalds at Coca Cola headquarters w/ Burger King fries since soda and fries are a part of the value meal. Even conceptual pranks need to make sense- conceptually speaking, anyway.

    — wyatt0317 · May 27, 10:38 PM · #

  10. IS feels empowered by all these penetrating insights.

    Next time Dex or Yellow Book tries to leave 9lbs of phone books at the end of our walk we’ll just run out and tell them, “I didn’t publish that” The day laborers delivering the books will shirk away crushed by their lack conceptual cohesion!

    Delivering phonebooks to someone other than the publisher of the phonebooks!?

    It doesn’t make any sense!

    — IS · May 28, 10:51 AM · #