Brilliance is seldom acknowledged

The author of Gaijinworld got into trouble:

This morning we had to make our first formal apology to the entire office, Japanese style. It was pretty nerve-wracking.

The magazine that pretty much IS our job here, was due to come out on the 1st of the month, but it was running pretty late due to other considerations. Therefore, the blue copy from the printers, was not gone over as thoroughly as it should have been and shit was missed. Yesterday a few thousand copies came back and they each had, on the back cover, the following description of the Constitution day national holiday in May;

May 3rd - Kenpo Kinenbi - National Holiday a popular holiday for the uyoku right-wingers to parade through town in their speaker trucks, railing against the constitution etc. Get a 3/4 length leather trench-coat, some slacks, a tight punch perm and a pair of smoke-tinted teardrop shades, you'll fit right in.

Which, at the editorial stage, had been adjudged offensive and in need of erasing. We did erase it, we swear before God we did, but miraculously the printer somehow got a copy of the Indesign file that still had it in. The eagle-eyed do-good that offed the bit in the first place was on it like a fat kid on a Smartie though. So now there are 2000 copies of a magazine here, good for naught but kindling, a double bill for printing this issue and an embarrassed gaijin who is the laughing stock of the building no doubt. Sigh. We couldn't even bring ourselves to go to the enkai party last night with them all, so great was our embarrassment. God DAMN!, we hate to fuck up.

Comments

[Herbert Browne]

So, what kept him from tearing off the back and distributing this thing by hand where he'd like to encourage readership?.. or overprinting the offending page to make an artful statement of some kind (that would, hopefully, pass the internal censor's cold eye)? Is it ALL doo-doo because of ONE li'l boo-boo? hmmm ^..^

[Roxanne]

The best thing about this story is that their description of Kenpo Kinenbi is spot on. However, no one is every around to see their shennanigans because it falls during "Golden Week."

[NTodd]

Reminds me of a scandal involving artwork some deemed offensive at a magazine I edited back in college. Earned me a lot of notoriety, so it ended up being kinda cool, though, and helped me launch another rag.

[Powder puff]

Thanks for your time over at the Pandagon and good luck in your contest.

Yours,

Bill