Basically, if you can think of an object with anything closely resembling a solid, straight edge (you know, a table, some bread, your own teeth…), they’ve tried, and succeeded.
To test this, we reached for the first object we could find, and then grabbed our German-English dictionary for the translation so we could look it up on the list. Then we realized we could just use the dictionary itself…
Our only complaint is that the 1000 different methods aren’t given any kind of score. So if we find ourselves in a room, Macgyver-style, with an unopened bottle of beer and a golf tee, a potato press and a sword, then which do we choose? Guess we’ll just have to get two more beers…
Esprit, the San Francisco-founded label which has found much love in Germany over the past two decades, seems to have accidentally crossed the one line (or pair of crooked lines) the Germans do not forgive – don’t mention the war.
Buttons used in Esprit’s autumn collection, as photographed in 200,000 (now pulped) catalogues, bore a striking resemblance to the Nazi swastika insignia, which has been banned in Germany since 1945.
Adding to the embarrassment caused by the buttons, the label may also be facing criminal charges – any representation of the war time motif in Germany is strictly verboten.
We’ve been arguing for years that Esprit’s designs were in bad taste, we just never expected (fashion-challenged) Germany to agree…
Just when we thought he couldn’t stoop any lower than the BMWs he was contractually obliged to drive during the Pierce Brosnan era, we were as shocked as everyone else to hear that James Bond will get behind the wheel (if only briefly) of a Ford Mondeo in the upcoming Casino Royale.
And now, to twist the knife, Ford has interwoven footage from the film (rather awkwardly) with European promotions for the Focus. This is a trade-off, apparently, for Bond being able to return to the classic (and now Ford-owned) Aston Martin marque in the film.
This raises a crucial question – are fictional characters capable of selling-out?
Esprit, the San Francisco-founded label which has found much love in Germany over the past two decades, seems to have accidentally crossed the one line (or pair of crooked lines) the Germans do not forgive – don’t mention the war.
