August 8, 2008

The Obama salute.

Why is anyone paying any attention to this self-promotion by some lame Los Angeles "creative agency"? If this design came from the Obama campaign it would deserve the kind of vociferous ridicule we saw in response to the Obama seal. If the design was excellent it would deserve the admiration we saw for the independently produced "Progress" poster. But the Obama salute — which looks like a hand gesture for "fuck me" — is just stupid and bad and not from the Obama campaign, so it's nothing at all.

IN THE COMMENTS: AllenS said:
It's the universal sign for the onion ring.
That's a reference to my old onion rings postmore here — where I said "the 'O' of an onion ring is a vagina symbol." Which is why I'm saying now that the salute looks like it means "fuck me." It's a way to say "here's my vagina," just like the upraised middle finger means "here's my penis."

Bleeper said:
When rotated 90 degrees forward and oscillated, The Big Jerk Off.
Paging Chip Ahoy. Remember when he did that thing to my vortex on Melrose?

57 comments:

Bob said...

Nothing says Sturmabteilung like having your own salute.

Joaquin said...

Link doesn't work.................

TJ said...

Bob, I totally agree.

Good thing Obama's got nothing to do with this.

Roger J. said...

Good heavenss--I don't worry Obama as much as I do about his followers--there are some real nut cases out there. I mean NUTS

Ann Althouse said...

Link fixed. Sorry.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Gee, chanting crowds, Che inspired posters and now a salute.

While it may not be from the Obama campaign, it certainly says a lot about the mindset of his followers.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Touche, Roger.

UWS guy said...

This thread needs more titus.

Triangle Man said...

"George Bush had his three-fingered W salute..."

AllenS said...

It's the universal sign for the onion ring.

john said...

Shouldn't there be a carrot somewhere?

john said...

AllenS - touche

Bob said...

Trevor Jackson: Bob, I totally agree.

Good thing Obama's got nothing to do with this.


Touché indeed, Trevor. The difference is that in this case, the salute is being advocated by the designer as an official greeting, whereas the Bush salute never made it past the light-hearted college-football stage, and certainly would have been forgotten but for the MSM pointing it out.

knox said...

Althouse is right. This has less to do with Obama and more to do with the obnoxious world of advertising and the desperate need for attention:

Husong tells me that he got the idea after seeing the famous Obama-Progress poster by artist Shepherd Fairey. "We wanted to get involved some way," he says. ... We want to see it everywhere, but more importantly we want this sign to take the world by storm."

Agencies (some more than others) are desperate for publicity. There's nothing worse than a creative brainstorm for a "good cause" client. It's all under the guise of "uniting people, helping our country, blah blah..." but it comes down to "how can we start up some buzz about us?" Lots of people in the ad biz are not unlike actors.

EnigmatiCore said...

It isn't from Obama, but it is by and for the people caught up in the cult of Obama.

Have you seen the Star Trek clip? It is hilarious that it uses the same hand gesture as the call-sign of space hippies, who speak in glowing terms of "The One."

What are the odds?

Randy said...

Why is anyone paying any attention to this self-promotion by some lame Los Angeles "creative agency"?

I don't know, why do you mention it? Because it is silly? There was a serious bit of election news in the NY Times this morning Group Plans Campaign Against GOP Donors.

Yet one more example of leftists making an publishing blacklists, attempting to intimidate those who disagree with them into silence. Imagine the shoe being on the other foot here...

MadisonMan said...

I'm reminded of the groovy Original Star Trek Episode The Way to Eden with the hipsters playing their music and forming a similar hand structure.

MadisonMan said...

enigmaticore -- apparently I agree with you!

TJ said...

"whereas the Bush salute never made it past the light-hearted college-football stage"

Are you thinking of the hook-'em horns, Bob? I remember lots of '00 and '04 rallies with the W flying high among the supporters. The only difference here is that we are able to actually trace its origins.

MadisonMan said...

If only it were Barack Herbert Obama!

AllenS said...

Looking at it again, the sign and the surrounding raysm, has an appearance of a Scientology factor to it.

bleeper said...

Big O.

Big Zero.

Herbert.

When rotated 90 degrees forward and oscillated, The Big Jerk Off.

Feminist's vagina symbol.

Something rude in some overseas country.

Something rude here.

He's got it all - I sure hope this spreads - nothing like a snappy salute to cement a movement. When one guy does it...

section9 said...

Think Star Trek: Space Hippies.

"We Reach".

This is just....gay.

Unknown said...

The Star Trek linkage has been confirmed. See instapundit.

Finally, Obama's campaign is making sense to me. It's designed by old Trekkies!

Bissage said...

Let’s not get too critical of the Obama salute. After all, this one is already taken.

bleeper said...

Ann, you made me laugh. I can see vortices forming all over the convention floor now - this is going to be most totally excellent.

Trooper York said...

Hey do you think he can get a couple of track guys to do the salute if they win some medals?

That would be good for a bunch of publicity, eh.

Bissage said...

That's racist!

Trooper York said...

Hey since Paris is endorsing McCain, they can get Britney to do the salute with her cootch.

She's very talented.

AlgonquinS said...

When you hold your arms in an arc like that, making a big circle, do you know what that universal sign stands for? Me neither, but it probably has something to do with the GIANTS.

Original Mike said...

O is for Orwell.

Trooper York said...

That the WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK GIANTS my native american friend.

A simple bow when mentioning them will suffice.

Bissage said...

When someone greets you with the Obama salute, is the proper response to put your fist through it?

Bob said...

Ann Althouse: Paging Chip Ahoy. Remember when he did that thing to my vortex on Melrose?

And do you see what your vortex almost did? You're playing with fire, lady.

bleeper said...

Go to a baseball game in Baltimore, pay attention during the singing of the line "Oh say can you see", and the symbol appear all over the stadium. That would be the World Champion Baltimore Orioles [1983 • 1970 • 1966].

No doubt Baltimore will vote overwhelmingly for Obama. It's all about conditioning.

Trooper York said...

"When someone greets you with the Obama salute, is the proper response to put your fist through it?"

I believe you are supposed to insert your tongue.

Are we still talking about Britney?

Bissage said...

It's all about the "O".

Trooper York said...

Hey I bet Oscar Robertson the original "Big O" didn't realize that he was just a big vagina.

knox said...

I believe you are supposed to insert your tongue.

Are we still talking about Britney?


If so, better not. "Who knows where it's been," as they say.

knox said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beth said...

It looks like a partial goatse. I would never hire that ad agency.

Simon said...

It's perfect for Obama: a gesture that is literally empty.

Anonymous said...

Which is why I'm saying now that the salute looks like it means "fuck me." It's a way to say "here's my vagina," just like the upraised middle finger means "here's my penis."

That's a tiny penis. Or maybe it's not.

"She told me you had...ah...

"What?"

...

"No no no........."

"Huge.....UUUgggeee!..."

Anonymous said...

The Obama salute:

Looks like a sphincter at maximum expansion..you know the one.

The Drill SGT said...

Ann said...Which is why I'm saying now that the salute looks like it means "fuck me." It's a way to say "here's my vagina," just like the upraised middle finger means "here's my penis

Close.

Just like the upraised finger means: F__k-you!!

The Obama O means: OMG, We're F__ked :(

EnigmatiCore said...

You know what?

I think Obama *is* going to name Hillary as his running mate.

This logo did not make me come to that guess. I only posted the guess on this thread because I couldn't think of any other thread to post it on, and not because the gesture makes me think of Hillary.

I swear.

blake said...

Thanks, Beth.

I thought I was the only one who saw goatse...

SGT Ted said...

The symbol means: "This is how big of a weenie we're going to use to screw taxpayers. Better lube up!"

veni vidi vici said...

yeah, i see it as perfect for his eager supporters to symbolize their pose of "grasping and pulling the One towards their eager mouths so as to swallow him whole".

what a loser ad agency.

as for this "goatse" thing, how exactly is that term pronounced? is it like "curtsey"? or perhaps a dustier, scratchy-voiced thing like "goat-sehh"?

when i googled it, i was scarred for life. now i'd just like to know how properly to pronounce it. in the same way that residents of nevada know the visitors by their pronunciation of the state name as "ne-vahh-da", i'd like to appear credible if i ever find myself discussing this... this *thing* in conversation...

Methadras said...

Ha. And DTL is nowhere to be seen on this one? I'm stunned. I thought for sure he would already be getting ready to compare sizes and how the resemblance is quite striking.

Methadras said...

blake said...

Thanks, Beth.

I thought I was the only one who saw goatse...


You haven't lived life until you've seen or been goatse'ed. Hey Ann, have you been goatse'ed yet?

Trooper York said...

I doubt it but it seems like she spends a lot of time staring at sploog.

Chip Ahoy said...

Per Bleeper's suggestion, responding to the page.

Obama sign flipped 90˚, now with beatific halo action. It's actually quite rude.

The other one I did a few weeks ago is less offensive.

Apologies for lateness, I was busy animating Billy Mays which is turning out to be a huge file. I'm making his loudness destroy a room.

Unrelated to anims, there was just now an amazing downpour. The sky emptied as if Himself was having a wee after a night of binge drinking. Every time that happens they issue flash flood warnings. As if anyone who hasn't lived here for two seasons wouldn't already know that.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks, Chip.

I made a new post to send people to it.

Gray said...

"I said "the 'O' of an onion ring is a vagina symbol."
Uh, when was the last time you were looking at a vagina, Althouse, and under what circumstances? Because it seems to me that you would need clinical instruments to get it into that round shape...
:D
Well, I'm surprised you didn't instantly realize that the "tribute" reminds more of a call for anal sex. I'm actually a bit disappointed about this, I really thought such a hot conservative goddess like you would be much more familiar about all kinds of sexual activities. Ok, obviously public perception doesn't always match reality. Especially regarding blondes...

blake said...

Caffeine soldier: Penises don't actually have hard edges and really couldn't be shaped like the Washington Monument.

Yet, people call it a phallic symbol anyway.

I guess it's more symbolic than literal.

Simon said...

Obama salute creator defends his creation. Yawn.