–James Mahoney, Razor’s Edge Communications

As I perused The New York Times on Sunday Aug. 20th, Chiquita Banana burst forth amid all the brouhaha reporting with a full page of the best ad I’ve seen in a long time.

I feel sorry for those who missed it, because most of us can use a good belly laugh these days. There aren’t many print ads that will do that for us. Chiquita commandeering the eclipse as the banana sun is definitely one of them.

Among the many clever and on-point lines, this beauty comes at the tail end of the body copy: “Please note: If the banana sun is obscured by inclement weather, it will be rescheduled for April 8, 2024.”

A mentor of mine once observed that there are two kinds of creative projects: those you wished you’d done, and those you’re glad you didn’t. Hats off to Chiquita, Wieden & Kennedy (with a shout out to writer Becca Wadlinger), and Funny or Die for a print and video campaign that I wish I’d done.