branding | Words' Worth

S & M&M's - When marketing & communications goes wrong

Sometimes, brands come up with a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. For example, Mars Wrigley. The company that gave the world...

Commercial Break: The Rolling Stones and Rice Krispies

(Hey, hey, you, you, hand over that milk) Long before they helped start up Windows. Or helped demonstrate that iMacs come in colors. Or...

Furious backpedaling: the Peloton ad controversy

'Wow, that was fast.' That was the initial reaction to the Peloton ad that 'resurrected' Chris Noth, or more accurately Mr. Big, after...

Twitter fail - Genesis

In February 1978, Genesis, a band that had previously been associated with very long songs about vengeful giant hogweeds and, uh,...

Bad Pee R: How not to tweet

Twitter. It's a place for the whimsical, the mundane, the vitriol, and the brands. Like Amazon. Usually, you don't expect to see a tweet...

Commercial break: Lou Reed - unlikely ad star

Lou Reed was many things. An innovator. A transgressive rock and roll poet. But a pitchman? Yes. If you have more than a passing...

Not normal - Unilever removes 'normal' from its packaging

Words are powerful. They have an impact. Particularly in how we see ourselves in the world. For example, think about how Crayola had a...

How not to Internet

Last weekend, a Facebook user in Nova Scotia detailed an encounter he had with residents of Seven Lakes Community, a community...

Royal Pain - How Not to Tweet on International Women's Day

It is International Women's Day, and brands are eagerly demonstrating their support for women's rights on social media. Including Burger...