Examples of breathtakingly unoriginal marketing

Putting some books away at work yesterday, I noticed these in my pile:

http://marthalong.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/9781845964047.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zW3kwdbDL._SS500_.jpg

Two different books, different authors, same genre of exploitation memoir, same model,
same photo.
You really can judge a book by its cover these days.

Reminds me of this beauty i saw a while back

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415V56XR67L._SS500_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YF8VAE4TL._SS500_.jpg

I was going to put this in I Love Books, but why not, let's embrace all other media too.

http://www.joelapompe.net/

was going to post this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Meets-Boy-Myths-Smith/dp/1847670687/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229087192&sr=1-2

which i'm sure was a smith's related image before now. and a quick google turned up this

http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.com/2008/04/brief-stay-with-first-person.html

and this

http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.com/2008/04/bookalbum-cover-cross-over-madness.html

serial offender...

Sometines theres little trends in movies like this

Like American Werewolf In London/The Howling/Wolfen all coming out around the same time.

some of those joelapompe things are outrageous. am reminded what the insider on the screenwipe advertising special said, how it used to be sitting around thinking of original ideas but is now trawling the internet to see what you can rip off.

Caustic Cover Critic: One man's endless ranting about book design

Aha, just the ticket.

Tbh it's not just unoriginality, it's putting readers and books in books in boxes via the marketing approach, and by that Im talking about the design, not advertising or sales stategies as such; while it's helpful in terms of putting books on the right shelves, and yes, it it helps ther onsumer instantaneously identify what they're likely to enjoy based merely on the cover and not scanning the contents, it's ultimately fucking insulting. And those things ive just mentioned are a pretty parlous state of affairs rally, and only came about as a result of
cookie-cutter design.

heinously executed post there.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI1MDc0OTA5OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDMyOTk3MQ@@._V1._SX270_SY400_.jpg

http://www.theasylum.cc/images/posters/tdtes_large.jpg

Not quite what your talking about, but made me laugh when I saw it yesterdat

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/baja.jpg

Don't know if it's "breathtakling unoriginal," but these three really struck me when I was at a local bookstore over the summer:

http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/567/n1134308060781599719js0.jpg

Public Domain: The True Story of the Image I Could Get for Free

How much do you figure that "Signed First Edition" loses in value with the three stickers on the jacket?

the ali smith book / primal scream cover photo is a photo by william eggleston. so, while it's kind of lame that one used the other as a "cover" after the other one did, the photo has been moderately well known for years. Six Feet Under ripped this photo off at one point as well in the show.

books marketed at women (fiction in particular) are all pretty bad at this. the number of books will illustrations of women's shoes and bags is kind of overwhelming.

Jeremy Clarkson: "I won't buy a paperback unless it has a picture of a submarine or a fighter plane on the cover"

this one always got me:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V4NW7EDYL._SL500_AA240_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61P-TV9bP5L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

> the ali smith book / primal scream cover photo is a photo by william eggleston. so, while it's kind of lame that one used the other as a "cover" after the other one did, the photo has been moderately well known for years. Six Feet Under ripped this photo off at one point as well in the show.

yes, a lot of the smiths covers are also well known images that have been used elsewhere, but in my mind they are smiths covers first and foremost.

Err. But that Gaiman book is with Dave McKean's artwork and surely the band bought the rights to the img from Dave or his agent at some point? The artist might have played with the idea on a couple of different layouts before the children's book came along.

We actually have one YA book and one adult book with the EXACT SAME COVER IMG and layout. It's a picture of a snowglobe sitting on a table in front of a window, and the only difference is the scene in the snowglobe -- one is a little cottage/house and one is something else.

surely the band bought the rights to the img from Dave

yes.

(actually they wanted to buy it straight, and he insisted on redoing it so it wasn't exactly the same as the book cover)

Ma, I'm Gettin' Myself a New Mammy.

that girl's chin looks like it's gonna fall right off.

How about titles? I've noticed a popular theme lately:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zZh661A0L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/33560000/33567594.JPG

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/26770000/26777002.JPG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LLkuoFhVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/33330000/33338290.JPG

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/25770000/25770756.JPG

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/14580000/14589654.JPG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HxUtZ-1oL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/27130000/27138221.JPG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CaZa1KuaL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

And the list goes on if you don't insist on titles beginning with "The." I think it may have started with

um, i think it may have started with

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/13850000/13851844.JPG

(famous historical figure's)(posession)

it's all about daughters lately. apparently the only way to write historical fiction about WOMEN.

That one's been a running book-people gag for years. (I was psyched when the movie version of Wonder Boys picked up on it by changing the title of the main character's first novel to The Arsonist's Daughter.)

For a while I was telling people that the novel I was working on was called The Phlebotomist's Grandniece.

Yeah, that's not hard to believe. I didn't notice while I was in college because I didn't have time to read as much fiction as I'd like, but it's been annoying me for a year or so.

man, that book covers blog is the first i've heard there's a new paul beatty. why does no one tell me these things ¬_¬

also, viz. bridget jones' diary & its 'kafka's motorbike'

yes perhaaps it should be
(famous historical person's) (unexpected posession)

The Skármeta novel that became "Il Postino" was originally published as Ardiente Paciencia. Later editions were changed to El cartero de Neruda (Neruda's Postman).

Hey, that's my blog! The best example of a much used image on a cover is this one:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_hvV0JHPYX_I/Rsoq2Cc7qoI/AAAAAAAAABE/sfKshYS-X1s/s1600-h/stock01.jpg

If that doesn't work, try http://bp3.blogger.com/_hvV0JHPYX_I/Rsoq2Cc7qoI/AAAAAAAAABE/sfKshYS-X1s/s1600-h/stock01.jpg

OK, it didn't work, but it's five books all with the same cover image.

Also, re The Memory Keeper's Daughter which Maria referenced above...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0143037145.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

See also this NYRB Henry James which came out a few years earlier...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0940322323.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

it's a fucking creepy image too

As a graphic designer, this thread is making me want to stop using stock photography altogether.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1002/528928964_565d2a4923_o.jpg

http://www.joelapompe.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/earplug2001.jpg http://www.joelapompe.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/earplug2008.jpg

that one from Joelapompe is kinda horrifying. Two people thought of that and thought it was a good idea?

oopsssss didn't realise the images were so big.