I don't bother posting about every time I spot an unlicensed use of [font] Dirty
Headline, because there's just too much. But here I am posting about it again
because this time it reads to some jolly reading ...

While browsing at the IMDB this morning, I spotted good ol' DH decorating a
video ad for "Axe Shower Gel," that goop they sell to clueless guys as part of
their magic-babe-magnet campaign. Curious to see if I could spot other DH uses
in relation to the Axe stuff, I googled the campaign tagline:

Axe Shower Gel - How Dirty Boys Get Clean

And the top Google result was a PDF file ... some kind of "Brief of
Effectiveness" about the ad campaign, describing its conception and strategy.
This is _funny_ stuff. Google as I did, read what I read. My favorite line:
"Clean?... Axe can’t talk about clean, we are a fragrance brand, we don’t talk
about rational product truths."

It actually reminded me strongly of a specific document inside the RPG industry
(by which I mean, a document not meant for the eyes of gamers at large), and
even though it's a document from a publisher that no longer exists (the
early-90s incarnation of West End Games), I'm hesitant to dish about it here.
Ask me at a con sometime, though, and I'll happily share the anecdote provided
we can sniff the room for recording devices :)

Also, from now on I intend to market Cumberland fonts as having magic
babe-magnet properties.

Anyway, that's that. In non-font Cumberland news, I'm putting "Don't F*ck With
an Earthman" into a new round of blindtest later this week with an eye toward
making it a standalone mini-wargame. The little game has grown considerably
since the early drafts, and the current version (Playtest Draft 9.0) is very
solid; been playing it with the Austin playtesters and it's been a very
satisfying round of tests. So, if you've been idly considering signing up for
the Fire-Eaters, or if you're already a Fire-Eater and you've been wondering
when you'd ever hear from me again, now's the time.

Customers of Points in Space 2 will still get a copy of the game free, of
course, but it's strong enough to also stand on its own (and, as it happens,
earlier).

Hope this finds everyone well and gaming often.



|| S. John Ross
|| Husband · Cook · Writer
|| In That Order
|| http://www.io.com/~sjohn