> It's "Klaatu Barada Necktie" ...
Actually, it's "Get you barracuda necktie", an early example of
embedded subliminal advertising in Hollywood films. The producer
of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" was a majority stockholder in
a small shop on Hollywood Boulevard, specializing in hand-painted
neckties. They had a large inventory with barracudas painted
on them. (Thin ties -- much in vogue at the time -- considerably
restricted the subject matter that would fit; it wasn't till
a decade later that ties grew fat enough to admit, e.g., groupers
and tuna as pictorial material.) For some reason, these items
weren't moving fast enough, so the producer decided to insert
a reference to the product in the film. An experimental necktie
for the robot to wear -- crafted in chain mail with the image
of the fish delinieated in links of contrasting metals -- was
not ready in time, so on short notice they inserted the line of
dialog. Unhappily, the typist who prepared the modified script
couldn't read the producer's handwriting, and the popular,
garbled, version of the words resulted.
Now, if you think there is something fishy about the above
story, just remember that April 1 was but four days ago, and that
I am notoriously lazy ...
-- Jay Freeman, Deep-Sky Weasel