Booksquare

Maybe it’s me or maybe it’s the transit strike, but a wave of news releases from the Big Apple this morning suggest that everyone may be auditioning for A Fine Madness. I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge during the last transit strike and discovered two things: objects along the East River are further away than they appear and two, the streets were filled with Manhattanites asking one another for directions all of which led back to the bridge. The police were on hand to assist Brooklyn residents who were doubled over with laughter. Somewhere in Brooklyn is the Atlantic Avenue Long Island Railroad station. They’re not on strike. They don’t have to be, no one knows where they are.

Executives on the Upper East Side are in good shape because limo drivers are non-union. Thus we have this announcement from Simon & Schuster as swiped from Michael Cader’s Publishers Lunch: to wit, the new biography of Milton S. Hershey features a jacket that resembles a Hershey bar. The candy company is suing asking for an injunction against the cover.

This is not senseless litigation. You see, unbranded readers might attempt to eat the book or melt it with Egyptian cotton for Milo Minderbender s’mores. As Susan Gable pointed out, confusion reigns in our business, although I see an opportunity here. Let them eat books. Partially digested books are non-returnable. Book clubs could form dinner parties and this is a natural for marketing tieins with Costco and Whole Foods. Instead of buyers the wholesalers could employ tasters. A Simon & Schuster Sampler might make a wonderful holiday gift especially for commuters hungry after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. And Cookbooks? Forget about it. Let’s eat.