Side Salad: The Mike Stands For Money, the D is for Diamonds
June 19, 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.
Sam’s Club just got a new and improved logo that even made this Goldstar member blush. That said, if you really wanted to go all-in on the diamond, David Lee Roth, aka Diamond Dave, was sitting right there ready to do some air splits.
Epic beer packs are completely out of control at this point, but at least PBR’s 250 box has a picture of a monster truck on it. What says Happy 250th Birthday, America, better than Gravedigger?
CVS just started packaging some of its private-label OTC drugs in aluminum. This is a good thing!
Speaking of aluminum, are we going to see more milk get packaged in cans?
Boy howdy, I haven’t thought about photographer Gregory Crewdson in 20 years, and those eerily cinematic images still send me. Anywho, he shot some promo photos for Phoebe Bridgers upcoming tour on a “desolate street“ in Massachusetts, no less. That said, I think desolate is the wrong word here, Rolling Stone, and I would call it “quaint” and “positively New England.” But that’s just me, a Massachusetts resident.
Gummyworm-flavored whipped cream doesn’t spark joy for me.
This is a fun idea, but only AI can “grow” broccoli that will fit into this packaging.
I talked up Market Basket’s in-store playlist the other day, but shout out to Katy Elliot for singing the praises of the best grocery circular in the game. It’s really that good!
Etsy would like you to ignore Amazon Prime Day and “shop other Jeffs.”
It seems to me that the Christian thing to do is to stand with a marginalized community that is still facing an alarmingly high rate of hate crimes. It’s a genuine shame that Pride and MLB-related Pride nights have been politicized and turned into an us-versus-them free-for-all, especially when nearly 10% o the US population identifies as LGBTQ+. As Giants beat writer Grant Brisbee wrote earlier in the week, “There’s a way to help people navigate this life with the respect and grace they deserve. It is a choice to ignore that on a night dedicated to people who need others on their side. Do better. That’s the only thing we’re all supposed to do around here, anyway.” Here here.
Now, please do something summery this weekend.
-Bill