The VLW Blog

In this afternoon’s e-mail: a solicitation from a necktie company called Capital Ties. The headline screamed out: “Every litigator will enjoy this new Sharks necktie!”

Uh oh, you say, another lame lawyer-shark professional-courtesy joke. Ha ha ha. Like we haven’t heard this one before. Or before that.

The copy burbles, “Sharks is being targeted - tongue firmly in cheek - to the legal community. On our web site, we explain that ‘Shark’ comes from the German ‘schurke,’ meaning greedy parasite and that ‘while no brave soul has gotten close enough to determine where lawyers come from, logic and common sense dictate a similar derivation.’

Then it continues: “I trust that lawyers will accept this design in the spirit in which it is intended,” says designer Nick Hotchkiss. “If they don’t, then I suppose we’ll have to switch gears and go after the subprime lending industry.”

Take a look at the tie, pictured above. (Photo credit: Detail taken from the picture of the tie that came in the e-mail). It has little sharks chasing dollar signs. Perhaps an ambulance was too hard to stitch on there.

A quick thought while pausing at the “Delete” key: Just what were they thinking?

At this newspaper a few years back, we had a potential advertising client, a caterer interested in reaching the legal audience. We were all set to sell him a full-page ad until he insisted on advertising his food as “shark bait.” When we gently, then firmly, declined to run that copy, explaining that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to insult someone you’re trying to sell to. Didn’t work. The deal fell through.

We’ll wait and see whether this tie company ever shows up at one of the commonwealth’s bar meetings. Until then, the “Delete” key works wonders.