Talk:Acme Corporation

message: I met Chuck Jones at the University of Dayton when he was invited as distinguished speaker. I am not sure if the year was 1980 or 1981, but we had a two hour lecture about his career and cartoon character´s character.
I remember that on the first question someone asked "why ACME, where does the name comes from?".
Mr. Jones replied that back at "Termite Terrace" in Bourbank California in the mid 30s there was this phone-book that on the outside back cover advertised a company called "ACME". So back then people simply referred to that catalog or directory as "The ACME" ... and contained all companies and products advertised. I assume that "The ACME" was similar to what we now know as the YellowPages.
Regards,
Federico Iglesias
University of Dayton, Class ´83.
Sirve 18:46, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I was also at an event at the George Eastman House in 1999 or 2000 where Chuck Jones stated it was taken from a telephone book. 69.138.72.113 (talk) 06:24, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  ACME - Where does it come from ... 

message: I remember seeing a TV programme (on the BBC?) in which a number of people involved with the early years of film making gave their opinion on the origins of the word. One explanation was that it was another mangled word in the line of 'gofer = go for'. Apparently one of the gofers was from Brooklyn and was in the habit of saying "Just ask me" when requests were made of him. He pronounced this as "just as' me" or "as' me" which become "ACME" and should be pronounced with a 'c' not a 'k'. 69.204.232.223 18:35, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  ACME - Where does it come from ... -- another explanation 

message: Surely I'm not the only one who heard that it was from Acme Consolidated Manufacturing Enterprises? Snezzy (talk) 15:02, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: This demonstrates why we don't print any of these "I heard it stands for ..." backronyms. -DavidWBrooks (talk) 18:33, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  ACME - Where does it come from ... -- another bogus explanation 

message: Long ago, I was explained that one reason for companies to use the Acme name was that the Acme name was the only name one could register with the authorities for free. I have no idea whether there is any value in that explanation, but maybe someone can do a search in an electronic version of old regulations and see if that explanation can be substantiated. Wurdnurd 10:52, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps you read it in this article - at the bottom it currently says: It is a common misconception that Acme is an acronym standing for such things as "A Company that Makes Everything", "American Companies Make Everything" or "American Company that Manufactures Everything" - DavidWBrooks (talk) 13:35, 25 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Acme name free to register? 

message: Didn't some of the Looney Tunes cartoons imply that ACME was owned by road runners -- thus perhaps explaining why the company's products worked so poorly for the Coyote?
On another note, Berkeley Systems (makers of After Dark) once published a Looney Tunes screensaver for Mac OS (System 8) and Windows (pre-XP).  One of the modules was an "ACME home shopping channel" that advertised anything from "dehydrated boulders" to "coyotatomic rockets" to asprin.  Operators (Granny) are standing by!!!
Should the content page make reference to this screensaver, or to the printed "ACME catalog" (I forget the exact title) that appeared in bookstores within the last year or so?
* The name of the book is "The ACME Catalog" (Chronicle Books, 2006).  The authors are Charles Carrey (text) and Scott Gross (illustrations); the ISBN-13 code is 978-0-8118-5115-2.  The covers proclaim that "Quality Is Our #1 Dream". -- Thomas Newton (172.145.92.99 04:25, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  ACME owned by road runners / ACME Home Shopping Channel/ACME Conspiracy theory 

message: In the short sketch "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" which precedes Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life", the London office block is covered by sheets marked "ACME Stone Cleaning". Later in the same film there's an ACME Construction Company among the list of companies in the wall of the Very Big Corporation of America.
Rcasha 05:01, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It is featured on lots of Monty Pythons sketches, actually. I'll add that. - Aki (talk) 18:11, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  ACME in Monty Python 

message: Is the term, "Acme Corporation," in any way Copywrighted, Trademarked, exc.? And if so, by who? --209.247.5.142 22:01, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Acme Corporation: Copyrighted? 

message: Acme-products even exist in Pink Panther cartoons.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.181.97.10 (talk) 18:28, 12 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  And... 

message: I have seen ACME appear in lots of cartoons, films and similar. Should it really say that it's "a fictional corporation that exists in the Looney Tunes universe"? I think it's more correct with something along the lines of "The Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that exists in several cartoons, films and TV series, most significantly in the Looney Tunes universe." - Aki (talk) 18:11, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: As has been referenced before, it was - and to a point still it - common to come up with a name for your company that would place it close to the front of the telephone directory... ACME does just that. If you have a faucet spraying water all over your kitchen and grab a phone book, you are more likely to call "Acme Plumbers" than "Mike's Plumbing" in an emergency. Also, the word "acme" is Latin for 'of the highest quality'. Look it up on Google rather than Wikipedia just to see how it is used.(The ACME pages on Wikipedia get vandalised too much for them to be always useful.) But in a big city such as Chicago or Minneapolis, you are very likely to find at least one company called "Acme". Hope this clarifies for you, Cheers! Bloo (talk) 04:12, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  Greek, not Latin. Merriam-Webster, Wikipedia. --Thnidu (talk) 17:13, 10 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Only in Looney Tunes?

message: "Acme delivery service, on the other hand, is second to none." I don't think that that phrase is appropriate. Perhaps something like "Acme Delivery service, on the other hand, is of exceptional quality." "Second to none" is a biased phrase; even though the company doesn't actually exist, and it's probably true, it still doesn't fit normal Wikipedia guidelines. ChaosMaster (talk) 03:58, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Second to none"? 

message: I believe that the source of "ACME" in the cartoons came from one of their vendors, ACME Rents. ACME is one of the oldest rental companies in the US, and they have rented equipment to the movie studios since the studios have been in Hollywood. Whatever the studio needed, I understand that they could rent it from ACME. Someone should follow up on this lead, but it makes sense.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.243.228.66 (talk) 19:09, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: This is true. I know for a fact that ACME Rents provided props such as Elmer Fudd's rifle and Tweety's cage.PacificBoy 19:45, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  origin of ACME in roadrunner cartoons 

message: Wylie sued ACME (Article in Playboy) - but lost - because he was not using the products in accordance with their design intent...
Can't remember the date - or if it was even really Playboy - might have been one of the other Men's Mags - but it was in a copy that was probably an Australian Edition.
FoolesTroupe (talk) 01:07, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Playboy Article 

message: I would dispute this claim in the text: "Primarily, the name "Acme" is widely known by the public to be an acronym of 'American Company that Makes Everything' ". It is unsubstantiated. I would imagine that the opposite is true, that you would be hard pressed to find people who can come up with this acronym.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.41.50 (talk) 15:46, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I just came into this talk page to ask why this hasn't been included in the article. And if it's false, why is it at least not refuted somewhere? EditorInTheRye (talk) 18:20, 31 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Nobody has been able to provide any evidence for that backwards-acronym - and I'm not sure how the article can refute something that doesn't seem to exist anywhere but vague rumors. Do you want something like "Despite many rumors, there is no evidence that ACME was used because it stands for so-and-so"? .. but if so, what the heck reference would you use for evidence that something doesn't exist?  - DavidWBrooks (talk) 18:54, 31 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Search google books for [acme "makes everything"], there are references to it  EditorInTheRye (talk) 18:24, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: This is for the similar backronym "a company that makes everything", which is similar but also not featured in this article, I should add. EditorInTheRye (talk) 18:25, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Factual error 

message: There is a recent documentary on Chuck Jones (obviously using archival footage) in which he tells how he started using ACME. This article indicates that it was used in earlier cartoons (Buddy) and other places, but certainly Chuck Jones is where the widespread usage comes from and he gives an exact detail on the source of his usage in the cartoons he devised. Regardless of whether it was used prior to him and that prior use arose from other, similar or the same reasons, his reasons do not arise from mimicking something established but from first principles. If someone who cares about this article wishes to do some work with it, I am setting forth the full quote below, verbatim, with the source cited in full:
(Speaking on his childhood and playing with his siblings in California):We were little madcaps along the beach and we did what we enjoyed doing and could get dirty and could eat hot dogs and so on. Since we had to search out our own entertainment, we devised our own fairy stories. If you wanted a bow and arrow you got a stick. If you wanted to conduct an orchestra you got a stick. If you wanted a duel you used a stick. You couldn't go and buy one; that's where the terms acme came from. Whenever we played a game where we had a grocery store or something we called it the ACME corporation. Why? Because in the yellow pages if you looked, say, under drugstores, you'd find the first one would be Acme Drugs. Why? Because "AC" was about as high as you could go; it means the best; the superlative.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:40, 30 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Main origin of ACME in cartoons; from the horses mouth

message: There are now more than 50 instances of "acme" appearing in cartoons, TV shows, movies, videogames, etc., listed in this article - it has become a classic example of a pointless trivia list: It was in this movie! Plus, it was in this show! And in this game!
I would like to remove all of them, replacing them with a short announcement that "Acme" has become a commonly used generic term for companies and products in multiple programs. Any thoughts? - DavidWBrooks (talk) 22:24, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I agree 100% and would add that not a one of those laundry list factoids is referenced. They can thus be challenged and removed and the burden is on those wishing to keep them. The thing is that these types of lists are terribly clunky flow breakers in articles. They should be prosified or removed. If some of the more notable mentions can be sourced, the material can be tuirned into prose easily. I would suggest something not unlike: Following Chuck Jones' popularization of "Acme" through Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons, the term became a commonly used generic term for companies and products in multiple other programs, persisting through today. Using "Acme" as the archetype catchall corporation has appeared in such diverse sources as ____, ___ and ___ during the 1960s;____, ___ and ___ during the 1970s;... etc.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:46, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Endless list of appearances 

message: The company "Acme" also appears in the TV Serie "Las Vegas" (Season 3, episode 2). Mike Cannon orders Mitch to check which people are fired at the company which manufactures their chips, Acme.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.101.37.122 (talk) 19:13, 15 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Appearance in Las Vegas 

message: A powerup in Carmageddon, Carmageddon II and Carmageddon TDR 2000 is named Acme damage magnifier, a reference to this corporation. Should this reference be put in this article? Srb2Espyo (talk) 19:22, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: How do you know it's in specific reference to this meme? There are a bazillion mentions of Acme this and that in media everywhere - this article would be swamped by them, absolutely buried, if we included them all. So unless they very specifically mention the Looney Tunes meme as part of the game/movie/show reference, we haven't been including them. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 19:26, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Ok, calm down. That's why I asked. Ok then, it won't be added. And incidentally, I don't think it's quite a meme... more like a... well, I don't know. Meme just doesn't sound to good. Srb2Espyo (talk) 22:03, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound uncalm - I just wanted to say something more than "no". And yeah, "meme" is too pompous; but "concept" and "theory" and "philosophy" are all way overboard. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 22:53, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Understood. Srb2Espyo (talk) 13:26, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Appearance in Carmageddon 

message: The ACME corporation was an important and recurring element in the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". A mention of this might be waranted. Redge (talk) 15:41, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: There are currently a couple of sentences about it in the "Live-action films, TV series" section. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 17:53, 6 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Who Framed Roger Rabbit 

message: This article is a prime example of the use of inappropriate synthesis to link disparate examples into a constructed whole which may not actually exist. For instance, the first two examples given in the third paragraph of the introduction display no obvious connection to the Road Runner example except in name; likewise, the "Real usage" section explicitly notes that the usage in question may be incidental. This article should probably focus on the company prominently featured in Road Runner and derived from that usage, and refer to other cases solely in order to differentiate from them. Chris Cunningham (user:thumperward: not at work) - talk 17:54, 25 April 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Good points. I've made some tweaks/edits - probably not really enough, though. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 18:08, 25 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Synthesis problems 

message: Hello,
I got a question:
Doesn't ACME stand for American Company that Makes Everything.
Kinds Regards,
Joshua Nas.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.46.56.77 (talk) 12:28, 7 June 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I got an answer: No. (At least, not that anybody can provide a reference for, as above discussion demonstrates. If you can find something, that would be wonderful, but the chuck Jones quote in the article seems to undermine this backronym idea.) - DavidWBrooks (talk) 15:27, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  ACME 

message: This article says that acme products tend to fail.  In the shorts, products the coyote uses do fail, but none of those are shown to be made by acme, and so we can't assume that they are acme products.  I haven't seen any products that we know are made by acme fail.Qwertzy (talk) 19:15, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Acme products 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Acme Corporation. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20140619162442/http://www.torinfo.com:80/justforlaughs/coyote_v_acme.html to http://www.torinfo.com/justforlaughs/coyote_v_acme.html
*Attempted to fix sourcing for http://use.perl.org/~acme/journal/200
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
Cheers. —cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 09:40, 28 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: There is many instances of "Acme x" in "The Far Side" by Gary Larson. Shouldn't that be here? 
2602:306:C5DB:2340:C0F3:21E:4785:E29D (talk) 05:48, 8 November 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: As is said in editor's notes if you edit the page, this article is specifically about the Coyote/Roadrunner-related meme, not every thing called Acme in any piece of fiction. Unless Larson specifically made that connection relevant (and I have a memory that he had the coyote in a cartoon, but I may be mis-remembering) then, no. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 10:57, 5 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Far Side  

message: Either both pieces should stay or neither (I think the former).  The Frazier piece is demonstrably the higher profile of the two. - Richfife (talk) 15:36, 28 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Legal humor" section 

message: The article used to have a sentence noting the common misconception that ACME is an acronym of some sort. It was removed but I'm not sure why. We just had yet another editor try to insert the acronym into the article. The frequency of such insertions is why the statement was put into the article in the first place. I have returned it to the article. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 17:30, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Company That Makes Everything 

message: A bit surprised to see no mention of J_Hudson_&_Co They seem to make the Acme_Siren since 1895. They do all sorts of whistles for bird sounds and that famous Acme Siren heard in countless cartoons.Mokafix (talk) 08:31, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  acem siren 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on Acme Corporation. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110712234115/http://www.i-foo.com/~eocostello/wbcc/eowbcc-a.html to http://www.i-foo.com/~eocostello/wbcc/eowbcc-a.html
*Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.lectlaw.com/files/fun19.htm
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 02:59, 26 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I just removed a movie reference that was last added in 2013 (!) and just re-added because it doesn't meet the edit guidelines for the page: Don't add examples merely because they have something labelled Acme in them. Only use examples that specifically reference the Wile E. Coyote cartoon character, please. This is a necessary rule because otherwise the article would be a massive list of unrelated movie trivia. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 14:20, 26 February 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  unrelated Acme 

message: My local Acme HAD  accepted the Ucard But today it was declined,,,Why? 2601:80:C97E:B710:D1FD:C79A:CB28:1294 (talk) 00:42, 14 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  why did Acme stop honoring the medicare U card for seniors ?