Executive Cubism

First came “Jammy Man,” the pajama-bottomed man in a Benson & Hedges cigarette ad a couple of years ago. No one had a clue as to what he was doing.

Now comes the cube guy.

Last week’s Business Week featured an executive fashion spread, including a man shown in a $425 Henry Grethel trench coat holding a clear plastic cube covering his head. No price given for the accessory.

Readers weren’t the only ones perplexed. “This is one of the great imponderables of modern American business journalism,” Assistant Managing Editor Anthony Parisi said.

The Man With Two Photos

During his career, actor/comic Steve Martin’s face has graced the cover of such magazines as Newsweek, Time, Esquire and . . . Successful Meetings?

Martin “highlights” a recent lampoon issue of the trade publication for meeting planners. Its cover shows Martin with a leaky fountain pen, ink-stained shirt and a yellow note pad with the words “How to Be a Planner” on it, giving a clear impression that he posed for it.

He didn’t. Martin’s publicist traced the picture to an Esquire photo session Martin did in 1987. Successful Meetings added the writing to the legal pad. The publicist indicated that she and Martin were unhappy but declined further comment.

Managing Editor Julie Barker said magazines often doctor pictures in lampoon-style issues.

The Greenwood Curve

Al Greenwood, Long Beach’s self-styled “Bedspread King,” is known for ads with tongue-in-cheek comments about such issues as the need for bulletproof bedspreads.

Now he’s gaining reputation as an amateur economist. Greenwood said a recent commentary on what causes an economic depression sparked calls from people asking investment advice and whether the banking system is sound.

Greenwood has something on the well-known economists. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope and he’ll return a bumper sticker of himself.

Briefly

Bad timing: State tourism officials, fearing a war-related visitor drop, canceled April ads in People . . . A “Feb. 29” announcement says L.A. Gear’s ad agency will sever its ties to the sneaker maker.