Monday, July 2, 2007 – Icons Disappear

Even the web-based grocery delivery service, Pink Dot, has moved on.  In contrast to the custom electric-blue Buick with the flaming fenders, on the Sunset Strip you'll find the last of the Pinkymobiles, parked forever.  What happened? In late 1999 the Los Angeles Business Journal explained –

Pink Dot, the snack delivery service that has been a boon to couch potatoes, is in the midst of a makeover that will include replacing its wacky Volkswagen Beetles (known as Pinkymobiles) with sleeker Daewoo hatchbacks.

The new fleet won't be equipped with Pink Dot's trademark propellers propeller, beanie caps or turnkeys.

The change comes at a time when Pink Dot has launched an Internet site and mounted what it calls a more mature ad campaign.

"The (Daewoo) is more representative of what you would expect from an e-grocery company," said Karen Sophiea, chief marketing officer for Pink Dot.

So we have the last of them here.  The shots that follow the vehicle will, however, give you a sense of how strange a place the Sunset Strip remains.  Icons come and go.

Hovering above the last of the Pinkymobiles – a rock billboard

And this…

Speaking of things disappearing…

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the 'fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik