The last week of any year takes on an added level of significance as we naturally speculate about the past and future of our lives, both personal and professional. And for those of us who make a living in the branding industry, the following headline from last week should inspire us to reflect, and perhaps pour a stiff drink:

"Kraft Foods poised to sponsor Texas Stadium demolition."

Yes, this is a real story of a brand sponsoring the explosion of an old building. Yes, this is where we've come.

But wait, the comments from the sponsor make it even better worse.Continue reading...

Subway's Jared Fogle problem is not the only threat to the franchise's healthy messaging. A competing fast food brand is also touting the health benefits of its products: Taco Bell. Seriously, we're not kidding.

Taco Bell is asking consumers to "think outside the bun," and it appears the brand is taking its own advice. Taco Bell's "Drive-Thru Diet" appears to have been stolen straight out of Subway's playbook. The campaign features "Christine's Story," a tale of a woman who made "different choices" on the Taco Bell menu and lost 64 pounds.Continue reading...

Verizon slams AT&T... AT&T sues... AT&T slams Verizon... Verizon hits back... What's missing?

Sprint, of course.

Though AT&T is on the losing end of its battle with Verizon, it is winning on some level by remaining newsworthy via the rivalry. Yes, the mere association with Verizon strengthens AT&T. In fact, the dueling brands may leave holiday shoppers thinking Verizon and AT&T are their only mobile phone options.

What about Sprint?

"Slow and steady" is the stated strategy of Sprint. Judging by the numbers, however, that may mean the slow loss of subscribers and a steady trudge toward oblivion. But Sprint points to its acquisition of Virgin Mobile and the recently launched Assurance Wireless as examples that it's poised to do better.Continue reading...

Stalin – he gave woman equal rights in Russia! Admittedly, that also meant the right to be massacred horribly as a portion of the 20 million people he purged. But it would seem the Russian government would have you focus on the former rather than the latter. To that end, they’re holding discussions with PR firms, looking to rebrand Stalin as kind of a good guy, according to EUobserver.

In addition to taking pitches on how to generally improve the image of Russia abroad (clue: this is not the right way to go about it), Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reportedly met with PR firms in Brussels to hear ideas for a campaign to rehabilitate Stalin. RIA Novosti denies the reports, but acknowledges working with an agency mentioned in the story, RJI Companies: 

RIA Novosti has not launched any new project on Russia's image; the agency conducts its current activities with the aim of holding a variety of news and expert events in foreign countries and the former Soviet Union, as well as in Russia.

But according to EUobserver, Moscow-based newspapers such as Novaya Gazeta claim that the campaign is already underway in Russia.Continue reading...

As angry scores (or, allegedly, millions!) protested against Obama in Washington D.C. and in state capitols this weekend, a pied piper was goading them along: blowhard Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck. The gregarious, incendiary radio and television personality, author, and entrepreneur has been stoking the inchoate fires of Red State resistance on US radio airwaves since 2002, and on Fox since January, just in time for Obama's swearing-in.

At Fox, Beck has found an audience eager for his combative challenge to the new administration. His ratings skyrocketed, along with his book sales and overall recognition. Despite (i.e., because of) all the controversy, ridicule and advertiser fallout, Beck is at the height of his career and his brand value is swelling. But his ability to tap into the culture of resentment has not been a pure business success for Fox -- though it certainly fits the rough, outspoken conservative brand of many Rupert Murdoch media properties.Continue reading...