Ah yes, Mr Muscle, 'Loves the jobs you hate'. I'm sure that you, like me, have a degree of nostalgia and fondness towards this nerdy character. To me, he represents a significant area of 90's design. Now, I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that I was outraged to see the latest Mr Muscle adverts. The second image is NOT Mr Muscle! This 'new and improved' digital version has been unanimously rejected by anyone that I've spoken to about it. However, it brings up the question of...why?
In actuality, the new character makes much more sense to the product. For one, he actually has muscles! He looks like he could be a bit of a hero, and genuinely help you out. Whereas the former looks a bit, weedy. He doesn't represent the concept of the product at all. I know that it was meant to be humorous and ironic, and that's all well and good. But if the current design was released first, then nobody would have questioned it.
It makes me wonder, does our nostalgic side make us instantly reject new ideas? Do we take it as a personal insult to our childhood when a famous character is changed, re-branded, or digitalised? It would be interesting to see what different generations feel about this subject.
A final thought:- Do we as a society reject the ever changing world around us? Is this because we want to cling to our youth? Are we sometimes afraid to move on?
(I bet you didn't think that I could go this sociological over Mr Muscle did you)
Thoughts anyone?
Its like your first car. The door doesn't quite shut and the steering pulls you to the left. BUT you love it. You enjoy the quirks, even though they may hinder the design or purpose. (Listen to Don Norman on emotive design, he says it much better!) When someone comes along and fixes the car, its no longer the same. Its lost it's character and personality. Its straight cut and clinical.
ReplyDeletethey be my thoughts!
ps ROCK ON MR MUSCLE!
I think you have made a good point about rejecting change in favour of nostalgia. When we see a brand that we know and love, it has connotations for us, revives memories of 'the good old times', even if the design in question was never really that good. We love it for its faults. Much like people, I think we take a dislike to things that appear perfect, do they make us realise our own flaws? If something is faulty, do we love it the more so for it? Interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI think a change of Mr muscle may be welcomed and a refreshing change. After all we did welcome the change of the brand name jif to cif.
ReplyDelete