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Chapter One
Good Stuff/Big Trouble
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There was only one catch and that was Catch -22, which
specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that
were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.... Orr would
be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he
had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if
he didn't he was sane and had to.
-Joseph Heller, Catch-22
From time to time, we smash, face first, into a wall we
didn't see, leaving us stunned and muttering, "What the hell was
that?" Here are some of the ones I hit that led to the question
"How come my best stuff gets me into the most trouble?" They may
feel strangely familiar. I have a network of friends who have all had the
same experiences, just in different places at different times. This is the
stuff of which Dilbert is made. The Dog Food That Dogs Wouldn't Eat (See
what I mean?) In 1966 I'd just become an associate brand
manager in General Foods' Post Division, responsible for two dog food
products - Gaines Meal and Gaines Biscuits and Bits. Gaines Meal's sales
were falling at about the same rate Purina Dog Chow's were rising.
"Stop the bleeding, stop the bleeding," the company said. The
division hired Doyle, Dane, Bernbach, the hottest ad agency in New York at
the time, to help. Several runs at a new campaign got so desperate they
became bizarre. Finally, the copy chief threw up her hands and screamed,
"Of course they're crap! There's nothing to say about this
product." She was right....
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