Mad #541 (John Ficarra) - Emoji Issue - October 2016

The "emoji" is a Japanese word meaning "smiley".  It first appeared on Japanese cell phones in the 1990s.  It is really just an outgrowth of the banal smile-face that was ever present in the 1960s.  Mad's "new" emoji on the cover of #541 is a smiling pile of excrement.  This image is not really new.  National Lampoon did it better in its November 1970 issue ("Disney Rejects") with "Chester McCowflop".  This cell-phone/emoji cover is Mad's annual summer attempt to attract younger readers.  But, the people targeted only want their repetitive social-media content on their electronic machines.  I believe that Mad should stick to smart humor on hard copy.  The Millennials do not have well-developed senses of humor.  This issue of Mad shows how unfunny millennial media are.  Scott Maiko's website parody ("Crapped") is an excellent illustration of the poor entertainment choices of The Download Generation (my term).  It is an attempt at parody but it is mainly the actual stuff found on these websites that are a pure waste of electrons.  Jacob Lambert's "Mad's Meme Graveyard" is more of the same.  The current generation does not appreciate literature, art or classic humor of any kind.  I am sad for them because they are missing so much of the better, smarter cultures.  As I write this, we are still mourning the last of the original MAD comic artists (Jack Davis 1924-2016).  Who will replace them?  [JAM 7/30/2016]

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
Appetite for Construction - Fixer Hucksters
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
And the Brand Played on - Recycled Ad Slogans
Here Comes the Bribe - The U.S. Politician Price Guide
From Here to Gratuity - Tips for Tipping, Part 2
The Path of List Resistance - Crapped
Seeing Redneck - Signs You're at a White Trash Funeral
Panels Discussion - Mad Asks: What's Your All-Time Favorite Comic Book and Why?
Fee Stings - A Closer Look at Your Cell Phone Bill
The Downward Viral - Mad's Meme Graveyard
Pen And Stink - The Mad Strip Club
Phase of Our Lives - The Stages of a Relationship after "Netflix and Chill"
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Coffee
Anemone of the State - What If Sea Life Militarized [fake department]
Rotten to the Encore - The Mad Vault
Pain And Buffering - Similarities and Differences Between Binge-Watching Orange Is the New Black and Doing Actual Prison Time
First Case Scenario - America is Still #1
Dislocated Hip-Hop - Historical Inaccuracies in Hamilton
Brick-or-Treat - The Gap-Toothed Gallery

Fold-In - Drone