Originally published in Verbicide issue #10

Gorsky Press, 192 pages, paperback, $10.00

Rich Mackin follows up his hilarious and successful debut book, 2002’s Dear Mr. Mackin…, with another great collection of his “Consumer Defense Corporate Poetry” — translated, that refers to his simultaneously intuitive and childlike letters, haikus, and poems he sends to corporations and politicians. Collected from the pages of the last several years’ worth of his zine, Book of Letters, Mackin’s letters manage to often subtley (and sometimes, not-so-subtley) poke fun at his targets and also sincerely point out their evils, hypocrisies, and the oddities of their products and advertisements. Among my personal favorites are Rich’s letter to I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter, in which he encloses a photo “documenting his disbelief” and ends the letter questioning whether or not company employees remain in a state of disbelief, and his letter to the Gap, which best exemplifies his social conscience and moral attacks.

“Dear Gap,” he writes, “I read in Harper’s Magazine…that you pay 11.6 cents for each shirt you retail for $12.99. I was thinking that I would save myself a trip to the store and just order one from you directly, and so if it costs about 3 bucks to ship a T shirt…I am enclosing a check for $3.116…How much does a hooded sweatshirt go for directly? I think it would be cool to have a sweatshop sweatshirt.” Sad to say, this is among the letters that did not garner a reply; sadder to say, in the grand scheme, you have to wonder how much power the rare alert consumer actually has over companies such as The Gap.

There are a ton of other great letters in this book: Rich’s suggestion to GW on how to conserve money and resources (and his offer to give further advice on such matters), a letter to Crest asking how to “renew his fervent emotions” for fighting cavities when he was a child (fighting the Cavity Creeps!), and a letter–written in the guise of Santa Claus–to seven major clothing corporations who utilize sweatshops in Saipan, informing them that they are on his “naughty” list.

In addition to 152 pages of Consumer Defense Corporate Poetry are two other sections, one containing a small collection of Rich’s essays and ramblings, and another entitled “The Star Market Iced Tea Saga.” This is my favorite section of the book–it is a series of letters that go back and forth between Rich and Star Market beginning in July of 1995 and ending in June, 1997. The gist of the letters is that Rich wrote to Star, complaining that the containers of iced tea mix were too difficult to open. After nearly two years of back-and-forth dialogue between Rich and Star Market (as well as the manufacturer of the iced tea), Star actually redesigned their packaging “per [Rich’s] suggestion.”

If you’ve ever been a fan of Rich’s letters and/or essays, don’t hesitate to pick up this book. It is another great collection that makes you laugh and think.