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About Branding

McDonald’s, McRibs and McIndigestion: Why we eat crap in a bun

There are only a handful of American traditions that people will dare to truly question: Why should I have to pay taxes? Is everything really bigger in Texas? How can you be too old for American Idol? Yet the question that prompts the most soul searching, the most gut-wrenching existential doubt in the heart of…

Lost in translation — why having a pronounceable and spell-able name matters less than you think

Everyone wants the perfect name. They want it to be edgy, imaginative, and inimitable, but only so long as it’s also easy to spell, easy to say, and impossible to forget. The only trouble being, easy and evocative are natural enemies. And nothing is so sure to slip between the ears undetected as the word that requires no effort…

Tiny woman trapped in iPhone sues local man

Attorneys representing a woman who lives in a local man’s iPhone 4S have filed a lawsuit against him, claiming he keeps her trapped in his smart phone, expects her to instantly know how to get to places she’s never heard of and frequently asks her bizarre questions. Worst of all, she says she doesn’t get…

I’ll bet you’re a marketing genius

Marketing is a good idea. Except for the way most of the world does it. Most marketing starts with the premise that people are total idiots so you need to pound stuff into their heads with a 2×4. They still don’t get it? Buy more CPMs and pound some more. 3% clicked and 1% bought?…

Flattening the Like Button: why Facebook’s omnipresent thumb sticks in the eye

Welcome to the age of the Like. Whether it’s the way in which we, like, speak to each other or the currently fashionable post-Siskel approach to film review — “Did you like Real Steel? I liked it, because, you know, it was really good.” — the word itself has taken total control over how we…

Return of the Return of the Return of the Jedi: George Lucas abuses The Force again

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas decided he was going to milk the Star Wars franchise for everything it had. What used to be pop culture’s sacred cow, a cinematic fantasy that nourished the geek in all of us for decades, has now become an emaciated cheese-machine in an…

Why your brand sucks

  Brands are pretty hard to build. And while some heroic efforts have yielded brands that really do make the world a more interesting, beautiful place, let’s face it, the vast majority of the brands out there suck. If you have to ask yourself which category you fall into, it’s most likely the latter, and…

Burning Man: The 10 million dollar anti-brand

Three days from now, 40,000+ people will leave their homes, families, and rational identities behind to join a city of their own making in which all normal societal rules are cast aside: Burning Man. And despite what sounds like a good idea the first time you hear it, I’ve come to dread even the idea…

Tried and true brands

While standing in line at my local 7-11 store today, I saw an unexpected gum option: Bazooka Joe. I guess I knew they were still making the stuff, but I hadn’t seen it in years and I couldn’t believe how unchanged it was. The packaging, colors, even the dismally written comics were just where the…

Does this Nutrient Density Index make me look fat?

Any recent trip into Whole Foods Market would have introduced you to the newest in food rating systems: The ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) and its meat-minded sibling, the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating. The basic premise of the ANDI system is this: Nutrients divided by calories = how good it is for you. And while…

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