Side Salad: Et tu, Marty
June 4, 2026
Good morning from Dieline’s editor-in-chief, Bill McCool. Here’s your daily side serving of design news, short musings, brand stuff, and forgotten ephemera.
Sherwin-Williams’ “Loneliest Color of the Year,” aka its least-loved shade, is a COY I can get behind. This year’s color is Offbeat Green SW 6706. Put some respect on its name!
What I love most about the Parm Bar—aside from its Power Bar-aping skivvies—is the overall withering commentary on protein-packed everything. We are not a nation of bodybuilders. We do not need to turn Acme into GNC. Protein-rich foods already exist, and I wish optimization culture and its intrinsic toxicity would vanish like a fart in an open field.
Half-baked side tangent—is the American drive for constant self-perfection really about having some kind of control over something (anything!) when society as a whole has become untethered from reality and chaotic? Everyone is poor and overworked, and when things fall apart or feel wildly out of control, do we choose to lock in on self-improvement and its various forms to feel like we have some command or power over the direction of our lives? Again, a half-baked idea, but the concept of Gainz feels like a reaction to everything being pretty awful across the board.
I finally tried Grillo’s PBR. Dearest Reader, I hate to report that it is pretty rank. Just add your favorite pickle juice to a High Life or PBR and call it a day.
Et tu, Marty?
I’m a fan of the Bero Shandy line. Looks pool-ready.
Goodbye, Amazon AI leaderboard and token maxxing, which was likely due to employees cheating and gaming the system.
Reminder that Drake is a nerd.
Know who can turn out a gosh-darn good label? Menta.
Was reading the latest Express Checkout (shoutout Nate Rosen) on all these new Erewhons, “affordable” luxuries, and buying overpriced smoothies for “social capital,” and I no longer want to live on this planet. My not-at-all accurate prediction is that, with the exception of the Erewhon, the cockroach of overpriced grocery stores and shoppy shops, these places won’t exist in 5 years.
Anywho, that’s all, folks. Drop a line and let me know which packaging projects caught your eye this week!
-Bill
You as well, dude! Hope all is swell!
Good to see you here my friend