Photo by miniteca.org

Anyone who ever owned a Walkman should take a bow. Have a beer. Give yourself a hug.

You were hip before being hip was hip.

All of those Apple fanatics out there with their iPods and iPhones can iShutUp because before Apple there was Sony, a brand that gave people everywhere the ability to escape mundane life and tune in to their favorite music while ignoring their parents, disrespecting their teachers and disregarding their friends.

Yes, closing yourself off to the world began in the 1979, but it came at a price—because walking around with a Sony Walkman was like carrying around a briefcase. But it was cool. The way Neil Diamond can be Neil Diamond and still be cool.

Photo by PhillipC

(1) Sex sells.

(2) Consumers want transparency.

So what better foundation to base an advertising campaign on than these two universal certainties?

Congratulations to Air New Zealand, a brand that has managed to differentiate itself from competitors by claiming they have nothing to hide from consumers—no hidden fees, no hidden penalties, no hidden taxes and no hidden body parts.

Yes, body parts. And we’re not talking kidneys and spleens. We’re talking about the good body parts. The ones people pay to see.

Well, almost. Check out these ads the airline has posted online. They’re the latest venture that represents the power of viral marketing and what happens when human nature, clever marketers and technology intersect.

Photo by jelene

This past week venerable brand Nestlé encountered a test to its brand strength, as its much-loved refrigerated cookie dough was associated with an E. Coli outbreak that could have stemmed from any of the ingredients used to make the cookie dough.

This FDA Warning advises consumers who purchased the Nestle Toll House cookie dough products to throw them away. And because the product is subject to recall, retailers, restaurateurs and other food services should not sell the product.

That’s bad news. Very bad news for Nestlé. The public doesn’t take kindly to tainted food products that make them sick.

So total panic ensued, right? Calls for accountability? Angry mobs with sharpened pitchforks and blazing torches? Mass boycotts?

Nope. Not in the least.

Why?

Photo by Valerie Everett

Purell.

Photo by ivva

Check out this commercial.

Considering that an egg is an egg with its own packaging, everything that comes with, on, or around the egg must be considered packaging—which is partly, in turn, branding.

But whether it is the face of Mickey Mouse stamped on an egg or the words “Vegetarian Fed Hens” on the egg carton, everyone is pondering the same thought...