If all else fails, try brainwashing ink

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Melissa Worden

I stumbled upon a cartoon, “Jacob Two Two,” this morning while I was flipping channels on TV. The animation caught my eye, and then the content of the show drew me in.

I was watching episode #5 “Jacob Two Two and the Daily Crown,” (which originally aired in 2001, I think) about Jacob, a 10-year-old boy who lives in Montreal, and his friend Buford who think their city’s newspaper is dull, dull, dull. Bad grammar and comics that aren’t funny top their list of complaints. Who would read the newspaper? they ask as they throw it in the trash.

Hmm.

But wait, all is not lost … soon, they find all the adults in Montreal mesmerized by the paper. Everyone’s reading it. Subscriptions and advertising is at an all-time high.

How could this be? Is there actually some news in it worth reading that the kids are missing or don’t understand? Is the newspaper catering too much to older readers? In the end, do Jacob and Buford learn about journalism and the importance of the press?

Nah.

Turns out it’s part of an evil plot by con man Carl Fester King, the new owner of the paper and printing press who declares himself “King of the World.” He put a brainwashing chemical in the ink to get readers to, well, read.

That’s a great lesson for the kids: The only way circulation could rise for print papers is if we brainwash the readers.

Another interesting tidbit: Jacob refused to do research on the newspaper’s Web site, too, saying “no not that one … I want to get the dirt.”

Part I

Part II

Part III

Comments

One Response to “If all else fails, try brainwashing ink”

Patrick Beeson on February 9th, 2008 7:25 pm

> That’s a great lesson for the kids: The only way circulation could rise for print papers is if we brainwash the readers.

You know, that’s not a bad idea! Especially since the ink always gets on your fingers. Maybe it could be designed to get into the blood-stream and create a race of infected whose only desire is more news!

Thanks for linking the cartoons. Great find!

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