Edwin Heathcote, writing in the Jan. 15, 2011 Financial Times on old British eateries, said: The more everything becomes the same, the more ubiquitous branding begins to grate, the more everything looks like it belongs in a mall – the more Britian’s few surviving “caffs” represent a refuge.’ Heathcote was writing about those British cafes, [...]

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Here, the famous song with Hillside Singers in a late 1970s commercial for Coca-Cola. Below is the original. And below is Lorri Hafer, who was the original lead, along with the Shaw Brothers, who performed the music. Interestingly, introducing the video is Herb Oscar Anderson, WABC morning man and father of Dynasty’s favorite suffering son-in [...]

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Frankly, there are some old brands that probably should not return, for safety’s sake. From the era of Disco Duck, the Ktel Bottle Cutter. Not only did it involve glass and candles and sanding sharp edges, but you could do it with wine bottles! That being said, the Ktel brand that produced this wacky product [...]

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With all the discussion of whether the Amoco brand might come back in the States, we thought it would be good to remind folks that the brand was much larger than the U.S. A bit of news. If you plug Amoco into Google, it seems that BP is now calling itself BP Amoco in a [...]

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos and Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille will preside at the opening ceremony of a new exhibit at the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum on Tuesday, June 8, from 12 Noon to 1 [...]

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A few notes of items in the news, or on my desk: The new Big G Kids Cereals ads from General Mills are great. Animated Lucky Charms leprechaun are talkin’ nutrition next to the kids. Smart stuff. I’m so cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. And the leprechaun and Cocoa bird are in the SAME commercial. Postum [...]

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One of the more forgotten sub-brands of a major oil company is Marfak Lubrication. Marfak was the lube brand of Texaco and Caltex. If Havoline was the actual oil, Marfak was the process. I can’t say it was actually used much as a verb, as I never heard the word used; I only saw it [...]

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GLENVIEW, Ill. – A TV advertising favorite is going back to advertising, at least in one region in the U.S. To help remind consumers that Shake ‘N Bake is still around, this December Shake ‘N Bake is marketing to local consumers with ads in 17 Boston-area shopping malls. The ads are sort of cheeky, with [...]

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Need to feel better when you travel? The name synonymous with seasickness was Mothersill’s, first registered as a trademark in 1926. Made by the Mothersill Remedy Company of Montreal and New York, it was first Mothersill’s Seasick Remedy. Somehow, the brand’s marketing did not translate to the jet era, and the trademark went defunct in [...]

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NEW YORK – Jake Holmes perhaps has had as much influence on American music as any other singer songwriter, but unless you are a devotee of early 1970s rock or advertising, you probably don’t know his name. But you certainly know his music, which includes Amtrak’s “America’s Getting Into Training”, Pan Am’s “We Fly the [...]

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