Frankly, we are usually on the side of the junk food purveyors. It is the excess that makes it wrong, not the idea. Like alcohol (and many other things), it is when there is too much, there there is trouble. But we saw a press release a few weeks ago from the Center for Science [...]
CSPI: U.K. Has Better Fanta, Starburst and Skittles
July 25th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Mello Yello Goes Back to Irvington, Virginia, 1979
June 8th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Part of the reason I love brands is because I studied them at the Irvington Country Store. When I was 15, in 1979, my father bought a country store in Irvington, Virginia on the Northern Neck. It was a cool country store, and he did the right things with it, including bringing in deli sandwiches [...]
Tags: News · Regional Brands · Retail
Andy Warhol and Brands
January 6th, 2010 · No Comments
The sale last fall of an Andy Warhol silkscreen for a record $43 million got us thinking. What are the values of many of the brands that Andy Warhol painted, and could we find a case of brand that he painted that was valued less than the actual sale price for an individual painting. Are [...]
Tags: Grocery Brands
Views on Licensing from Pete Canalichio
December 20th, 2009 · No Comments
ATLANTA – We caught with licensing expert Pete Canalichio to answer a few email questions about the current licensing climate. BrandlandUSA: What opportunities are companies missing in the licensing of brands? Canalichio: The biggest opportunity in my opinion is that there are so many companies out there with great products or services that don’t even [...]
Tags: Licensing
Coca-Cola Bottle to be Replaced; America’s Ise Shrine?
June 20th, 2009 · No Comments
ATLANTA – The Coke bottle will go. After 12 years, more than 1,000 home run celebrations and countless family ballpark memories, the 42-foot-tall Coca-Cola Contour bottle standing high above left field will be retired from Coca-Cola Sky Field at Turner Field on July 2. A new one will replace it, but the old one will [...]
Tags: Advertising · Deathwatch
Branding Lesson’s from Gloucester’s W.J. Stokes Road House
March 11th, 2009 · No Comments
GLOUCESTER – Anyone who has driven Gloucester’s Route 17 knows the W.J. Stokes Tavern. While much of the county has been suburbanized, the building remains as a time-piece, in good repair. Last time I drove through, I snapped a photo of it, thought I don’t know if the W.J. Stokes Tavern is still open. Any [...]
Tags: Advice · Regional Brands
Super Bowl XLIII Advertising Preview
January 30th, 2009 · No Comments
Yes, its the time for Super Bowl ads. A quick list of some of the planned commercials that are to run during the game: Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu takes on the starring role in “Mean Troy,” a new Coke Zero ad that puts an unexpected twist on the iconic Coca-Cola “Mean Joe Greene” commercial. It [...]
Tags: News
X-mas Trinkets Mean 4-ever Advertising
December 17th, 2008 · 1 Comment
Top 10 Xmas Brand Traditions NORTH POLE – Candy companies have TOTALLY figured it out, as have TV networks and music producers. Long ago, the networks figured out that if you have a good Christmas special, you can run it each year; the more times people see it, the more they want to see it. [...]
Tags: Advertising · Advice · Licensing
A Record of this Sorry Tale, Anyhue
February 6th, 2008 · 1 Comment
It is always a good idea to remember the lessons of brand-killing mistakes. While most know the case of New Coke, there are other products that have returned because of consumer pressure. One of our favorite fan sites relating to a bad decision is Bovril. In 2004, Unilever removed beef from the product and made [...]
Tags: Zombie Brands





