DEAR MR. MACKIN....

by First Last

Corporate Agitator' s favorite letters, poems, columns, and his twisted letters to corporations, and their responses.

100 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been friends with the Reverend Richard J. Mackin for a couple decades now. Rich even used a blurb of mine in praise of his work on the back of this book (right there with Patch Adams and Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, which is cool as fuck!), so you all should be forewarned about a potential bias on this review.

Wacky letters to corporations. It's been done before...but what hasn't? These are frickin' funny and totally worth your time!

General Mills, M&M's, Kellogg's, Pepsi, Maxwell House, McDonald's and of course Lever 2000 all received mail from Mackin. I say "of course Lever" because it was his epic battle with the Lever Corporation for which most are familiar with his work. It all began thusly...


Dear Lever Brothers, Family and Friends,

Your big selling point of your Lever 2000 is that it cleans all my body's 2000 parts. What 2000 parts? Could you list them? Technically it only cleans one part -the skin- as far as I can see. Are you actually referring to different areas of the body? I just don't understand. Please inform me.

Thank you,

Richard J. Mackin

They replied, he wrote back and this happened again and again, the conversation growing and morphing, all essentially because Lever wouldn't (or couldn't) satisfactorily answer the original question.

In reply to such letters, Mackin would receive form letters on corporate letterhead, signed by some poor customer service shlep. Often he'd get coupons for his (and their) trouble. Often he'd get nothing, not even a form letter. Occasionally he'd get a reply that actually addressed his question(s), and that would invite even more letters from Mackin.

Not all of his letters were derogatory of a company or their products. Sometimes he wrote to express his sheer joy at their existence. That helped provide a nice balance for the reader who didn't want to be weighed down by an entirely negative book.

I would guess that most of the customer service reps receiving his letters thought he was a crackpot, and some of things he says do make him sound looney, but that's on purpose. For the most part Mackin was doing this for laughs...



Dear Cookie Crisp,

I remember long ago when you guys were square and supported the status quo. But I just saw an ad of yours that really got my attention. It used to be, you guys had the cookie cop be the hero, fighting the cookie crook and his dog, but now you have the dog be the rebel hero and the cop is the bad guy and subject to mockery! Good for you! A.C.A.B! I hate pigs, man! Smash the state! I especially like how the cop is fat and has a mustache! Its funny cuz it's true! Next time, give him a pig nose!

Thanks,

Rich Mackin


I read most of this book before it was published. The letters appeared from the mid-to-late '90s in Mackin's zine series. Rereading them a few years later was good fun. Scanning over them again now...well, while still good, they've lost some of their edge.

The absurdism that he based so much of his humor on - spouting nonsense, purposefully mixing things up and deliberate misunderstands - that felt fresher back then. Now it's part of the mainstream (see an Old Spice ad for example). It's become difficult to be ridiculous these days and more's the pity!

Maybe that's why Mackin doesn't do his letters anymore. These days Rich is living the Portland life, goes to Burning Man a lot, and spends much of the year dressed as Santa Claus or a Scottish Punk Pirate. Interesting guy. I liken him to a sort of modern day Ken Kesey.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mackin writes hysterically funny, baroquely surreal and witty letters to various corporations, usually deconstructing some fine point of the company's ad campaign through miscomprehension of same. He is obsessed with what the "2000" in Lever 2000 soap signifies, and this becomes the running joke of the book. He is also deeply concerned about the plight of Lucky the Leprechaun of Lucky Charms cereal. He has plenty of constructive suggestions; for example, he suggests that, in order to fulfill their Scottish heritage, McDonald's should add haggis to the menu. In return for his efforts, he gets lots and lots of form letters. These also provide some laughs; I'm especially impressed with how many times Lever can send Mackin the exact same form letter in reply to his various efforts.

Occasionally his political stridency gets the best of him, but this is rare. Mostly the book is pure comic genius. Older readers may be familiar with Don Novello's similar book under the pseudonym Lazlo Toth. Mackin's book is similar in format, but sharper and funnier. Highly recommended!

[Matt Mazenauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious anti-corporate letters, all with zany tongue-in-cheek naivety. There are sweet moments when some PR person realizes the unique humor and responds as a person. There are also countless form letter responses, many duplicates, used to show a point. It's a fun romp into the behind-the-scenes of customer relations. My hat is off to Mr. Mackin for some the weird an amazingly original humor in these letters.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emily gave me this book the other night and I plowed through it. The essays at the end are a bit tedious and sometimes his tenacity is a bit...immature, I suppose, but all in all I sure do love this book. It made me laugh on the subway a number of times. My favorite letters from companies were the ones where they acknowledged the curiosity of the letter Mr. Mackin sent and, usually, complimented him on it. So cute. This is definitely a fun way to break up any hard reading you've done.

[Nik Outchcunis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw him speak to my class at UMass. Funny guy, great concept.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book ever, and the cover picture shows a handsome man.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually saw Richard Mackin do a reading from this book, and he was hysterical. This book is fun and clever, and agitates all my customer service wounds.

[Margot Note]

Laughed out loud a few times while reading this book!

[Zeta T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books of modern times.