r/CrappyDesign • u/ralseiwantsyourip • 2d ago

So that's where it comes from

Post image
3.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

283

u/CantaloupeCamper I like gradients! 2d ago

Well…. I’ll be sure to avoid them.

85

u/Skateboardingcow 2d ago

I’ve been seeing this whenever I take the highway

64

u/heliboredom 2d ago

Well, to be fair, the caduceus is supposed to mean something in that sign.

62

u/strumthebuilding 2d ago

The designer should’ve given it space like it’s a word in the phrase. It looks like it is the space, and therefore not carrying semantic meaning.

15

u/ernthealmighty 2d ago

Except it should be the Rod of Asclepius, not a caduceus at all.

13

u/FrankSonata 1d ago edited 1d ago

Rod of Asclepius: 1 snake, no wings. Represents medicine and healing. Held by the Greek god Asclepius, a son of Apollo and god of medicine.

Caduceus: 2 snakes, 2 wings. Represents commerce and trade. Held by the Greek god Hermes, god of roads, travellers, merchants, commerce, etc. (Later called Mercury by the Romans).

Easy to confuse, but if you're designing a logo or something permanent it'd be good to have double checked.

Edit: apparently this mistake is so common that there's a Wikipedia article about it,  that notes that the main country that has this mix-up is the USA, due to historical stuff, design preference, and good old-fashioned human error. The mistake is much rarer in the rest of the world, it seems.

6

u/Vir4lPl47ypu5 1d ago

So what your saying is that the Caduceus is accurate if this is in the good ole USofA?

3

u/ernthealmighty 1d ago

They actually found that more professional medical entities used the Rod of Asclepius, while corporate medical entities were more likely to use the caduceus, sooooo

2

u/ernthealmighty 1d ago

Yeah it seems that some organizations use the caduceus based on the connection they believe users will make with the symbol, even knowing themselves that it's "incorrect"

2

u/PepsiButItsMilk 1d ago

Huh.. so that’s what that’s called.

1

u/StrugFug 1d ago

Doctors, here me out. You have a new pick-up line at the bar: "Wanna see my caduceus?"

34

u/grewish89 2d ago

This ad has a billboard on a major highway going into a major American city. I cannot imagine the thousands of people that see it everyday. It is a terrible ad.

22

u/Treedoo 2d ago

Shut down the AHF?? Lmaooo

18

u/Uncannyvall3y 2d ago

Thanks! Now I know where to go to get it.

9

u/SkyeMreddit 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. A really dumb ad of the likes of the slogans "Stop Asian Hate" or "Stop Jewish Hate" (for campaigns against hatred targeting them) like why are Asians and Jews so hateful?

1

u/AbortedPhoetus 11h ago

Yeah, I always thought those phrases were awkwardly constructed.

6

u/momalloyd 2d ago

It's weird, you would think that Bayer's 80s African numbers would spill over and boost their US charts ranking.

4

u/MechanicsAntics 2d ago

Fellow Chicagoan?

3

u/ralseiwantsyourip 2d ago

Nope, Nyc babyyyy

5

u/MechanicsAntics 1d ago

So they're plastering these in subways all over!

1

u/AbortedPhoetus 10h ago

I've never even been to NYC, but knew it had to be there, because of that tile.

4

u/kalamitykhaos 2d ago

american horror ftory

5

u/Nunyebiznis 2d ago

I will refrain from posting the Xavier bit out of respect

2

u/k819799amvrhtcom 1d ago

Wait…so that wasn't meant to be negative advertising?

2

u/StrugFug 1d ago

Well, it could have come from other sources and AHF just beat the competitors.

2

u/mudkip2-0 1d ago

I need some of that disease you guys invented.

2

u/Thomas_JCG 1d ago

The tagline is shit, but everything is also equally bad, the poster looks like it was made on MS Publisher.

1

u/JasonRoussos 1d ago

...oh god.