Have a look at this sign in a cake shop in Norton Street Plaza, Leichhardt. Sam Cavallaro probably feels he has crafted a memorable slogan. Clearly he has saved quite a bit of money by not employing a copy writer or an editor. What I love is the way it refuses to yield up a clear meaning. The dollar may lose its value with inflation, but these cakes are good even when they’re stale? No, that can’t be it. Perhaps: our cakes may seem expensive, but you’ll stop worrying about the cost when you actually eat them? But surely that isn’t it either. I know we’re not meant to scrutinise it like this, but honestly it’s not derision I feel but a kind of awe at its koan-ishness.
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Maybe this is an election special? School of Wyatt?
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Maybe ‘You will remember the quality of our cakes long after you’ve forgotten the price’?
Nice post, anyway.
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Will: I can see that young Wyatt has found a place in your personal iconography. Long may he abide there.
M-H: Thank you. But can you clap with one hand? (And it’s still a lousy sales pitch, because the cakes – though nice – are cheap and forgettable, at least when compared to the likes of Adriano Zumbo.)
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