Posts from: December 2005
You might enjoy this year’s Blawg Review Awards for law bloggers and everyone interested in the best blawg brands. It’s a surprisingly entertaining read, not just for lawyers but for everyone interested in law. And there’s lots of good stuff for anyone interested in naming and branding, too.
Overlawyered got the award for Best Name for a legally-oriented blog, but it looks like there’s competition heating up in this category as the Greatest American Lawyer and the Ruthless Lawyer are looking to establish domain name dominance.
This year’s Blawg Review Awards are judged and decided solely by Themis. You may agree or disagree with her decisions, and we trust that some of you might have a lot to say about these Blawg Review Awards on your own blogs. If you would like to acknowledge other award-worthy blawgs, by all means don’t hesitate to invent some new award categories and wield your authority like a law blogger by giving awards to your personal favorites—maybe even giving yourself the award you deserve.
One of our favorites is Marty Schwimmer, a leading trademark attorney, whose weblog The Trademark Blog could get an award for the Most Descriptive Name for a Trademark Blog. But hey, Google loves it.
In other news for lawyers, and naming and branding specialists, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently denied Lawyers.com its application for trademark of that domain name. Apparently, it took twenty-nine pages to explain this seemingly inevitable result, but you can read a nice short post summarizing the decision on the TTABlog. Get it?
On a related note, Professor Bainbridge (whose eponymous law blog ProfessorBainbridge.com® picked up a Blawg Review Award for Most Eclectic Blog) recently announced that his blog name is now a registered service mark. So watch out.
Blogging from Squaw Valley Ski Resort, where we have been blessed with 48 hours of non-stop rain. The good news? Forecast teperature for each of the next three days is a winter wonderlandy 69 degrees.
Still, it could be worse. Bill O’Reilly could be getting laid this year – in Nevada anyway.
That visual should stop those sugar plums from dancing in your head.
If it was good enough for a rodent, it’s good enough for a marsupial.
Just in time for Christmas, which is actually summer in Australia, and explains a whole lot, comes news that kangaroo meat may henceforth be called “australus,” as in, “How do you want your australus? Rare, medium or well done?”
The folks behind this rebranding effort claim they want to encourage more people to eat kangaroo meat, but we think there is a more sinister motive — pest control.
To us here in the Northern Hemisphere, the kangaroo is a cute hopping animal, most notably epitomized by “Kanga” one of the stars of Winnie the Pooh’s universe. In Australia however, even though it is a national symbol, it is a pest. With nearly 50 million of them running around, there is a yearly culling to control the size of the kangaroo population. And what do they do with the culled roos you ask? They make pet food.
They also sell the meat as people food. But the only people who really like kangaroo meat are the Japanese and the Germans who turn it into sausage.
If this rebranding of a rapidly multiplying pest sounds familiar it is. Remember the coypu? A few years ago, Louisiana was swarming with these water rats who were eating everything in sight and causing untold amounts of damage. So the folks in Louisiana decided, it was either eat or be eaten. But who wants to eat water rat? So their solution was to rename the rat Nutria.
So you see, renaming kangaroo meat “australus” is really just pest control disguised as fine dining.
Your branding tax dollars at work, creating an empty vessel. From today’s Washington Post:
The Department of Homeland Security was only a month old, and already it had an image problem.
It was April 2003, and Susan Neely, a close aide to DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, decided the gargantuan new conglomeration of 22 federal agencies had to stand for something more than multicolored threat levels. It needed an identity — not the “flavor of the day in terms of brand chic,” as Neely put it, but something meant to last.
So she called in the branders.
Neely hired Landor Associates, the same company that invented the FedEx name and the BP sunflower, and together they began to rebrand a behemoth Landor described in a confidential briefing as a “disparate organization with a lack of focus.” They developed a new DHS typeface (Joanna, with modifications) and color scheme (cool gray, red and hints of “punched-up” blue). They debated new uniforms for its armies of agents and focus-group-tested a new seal designed to convey “strength” and “gravitas.” The department even got its own lapel pin, which was given to all 180,000 of its employees — with Ridge’s signature — to celebrate its “brand launch” that June.
“It’s got to have its own story,” Neely explained.
Nearly three years after it was created in the largest government reorganization since the Department of Defense, DHS does have a story, but so far it is one of haphazard design, bureaucratic warfare and unfulfilled promises. The department’s first significant test — its response to Hurricane Katrina in August — exposed a troubled organization where preparedness was more slogan than mission.
Happy Merry!
The list of finalists for the San Francisco Chronicle’s annual ‘Word of the Year‘, nominated by readers, has just been announced. Here they are:
Disaster: “From hurricanes in the Gulf Coast and Central America to earthquakes in Pakistan/Asia to the insurgency and tragedy in Iraq to the Iranian election of a racist fascist, this year was one man-made or man-amplified disaster after another.” — Noah.
Hubris: “For obvious reasons not only related to Iraq.” — asiago.
Insurgency: “Where did this word come from? Who were the ‘insurgents’ in WW II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, the Falkland Islands? Is this the 21st Century word for ‘resistance’?” — Rob C.
Jump the Couch: This update of the TV saying “jump the shark” is “a defining moment when you know someone has gone off the deep end, such as Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch” to show his love for Katie Holmes. — Swanlake.
Levee: “Who outside of flood-prone areas really understood what a levee was, aside from a word that rhymes with ‘Chevy’ in the song ‘American Pie,’ before Katrina came along?” — ottavarima.
Mashup: “Not only does this word capture a hot trend in both music and software (Web 2.0) development, but seen in another light, it sounds like big things colliding. Lots of that going on this year!” — tritisan.
Today only, you can vote for your favorite, which currently is “Hubris”, a quality already in excess in America these days.
We have just added four new names to our portfolio: URGE, MTV’s new music and video downloading service; Radius, a re-name for a biotech company; and two new names for Hitachi Medical Systems: Echelon, an MRI machine, and Origin, the Echelon machine’s operating software.
Stay tuned for some very exciting new name announcements in the early months of 2006.
O
Christ
mas Tree, O
Christmas Tree,
Your branches green
delight us.They’re green
when summer days are bright:
They’re green when winter snow
is white.O Christmas Tree, O Christ
mas Tree,Your branches green delight us.O
Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, You give us
so much pleasure! How oft at Christmastide the sight,
O green fir tree, gives us delight! O Christmas Tree, O
Christmas Tree, You give us so much pleasure!
!!!
!!!
!!!UNDERSTAND
TANNENBAUM
Christmas is Christmas, but how do you spell Hanukkah?
Chanukah is a transliteration of a Hebrew word, so you’ll find it spelled Hanukkah, Chanukah, Hanukah, Hannukah and Channukah. With all the attention Chrismukkah recieved last year, they’ve even added it to some dictionaries.
Time magazine listed Chrismukkah as one of their top ten “buzzwords” of the year. Other spellings won’t get you to the same place: Chrismukka, Chrismukah, Chrismuka, Chrismakka, Christmukkah, Christmukah, Christmakkah, Christmakah… Chanumas, Hanumas, Chrismahanukwanzakah… there’s only one Chrismukkah.
The Twelve Days of Kitschmas—presenting twelve righteous and deserving products for underneath the tree, and a thirteenth for those who refuse to celebrate happy holidays and are more interested in promoting The War on Christmas.
MTV has just announced the name of their new digital music service, named by Igor. From the press release:
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc and Microsoft Corp. today announced they have collaborated on the design and development of MTV Networks’ new digital music service called URGE…
….URGE will offer rich entertainment programming and innovative tools designed to guide musical discovery and connect fans to the artists and music they love. Offering more than 2 million songs from the major labels and thousands of independents, URGE will encompass all musical genres, from alt-country to zydeco. In addition to a broad catalogue of music choices, URGE will deliver a deep well of exclusive MTV Networks programming and original, hand-crafted content…
…MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc., (NYSE: VIA – News and VIA.B – News) and Microsoft Corp. today announced they have collaborated on the design and development of MTV Networks’ new digital music service called URGE. Set to debut domestically in 2006, URGE will provide an immersive music experience…
…”As with everything we do at MTV Networks, every element of URGE is being developed with our audience in mind,” said Jason Hirschhorn, MTV Networks’ Chief Digital Officer. “Beyond providing a simple transactional service, URGE will provide a musical playground where fans can explore, customize, discover and download new music.”
…Upon its debut next year, URGE will be promoted through multiple venues, including the MTV, VH1 and CMT channels, which on average collectively reach more than 165 million viewers U.S., as well as through the respective brands’ Web sites and Urge.com. Additional details of the new service will be unveiled in January at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
You’ll be able to satisfy your URGE here.
More blogs about urge.
Did God make Santa Claus, or is he just another one of the Coca-Cola Company’s holiday characters?
At the beginning of the 1930s, the burgeoning Coca-Cola company was still looking for ways to increase sales of their product during winter, then a slow time of year for the soft drink market.
They turned to a talented commercial illustrator named Haddon Sundblom, who created a series of memorable drawings that associated the figure of a larger than life, red-and-white garbed Santa Claus with Coca-Cola. Coke’s annual advertisements — featuring Sundblom-drawn Santas holding bottles of Coca-Cola, drinking Coca-Cola, receiving Coca-Cola as gifts, and especially enjoying Coca-Cola — became a perennial Christmastime feature which helped spur Coca-Cola sales throughout the winter (and produced the bonus effect of appealing quite strongly to children, an important segment of the soft drink market). The success of this advertising campaign has helped fuel the legend that Coca-Cola actually invented the image of the modern Santa Claus, decking him out in a red-and-white suit to promote the company colors — or that at the very least, Coca-Cola chose to promote the red-and-white version of Santa Claus over a variety of competing Santa figures in order to establish it as the accepted image of Santa Claus.
Late-night comedian Jon Stewart, who’s been accused by Bill O’Reilly of being behind what some are calling the War on Christmas, recently took the Coca-Cola Company to task for taking Santa out of Christmas, and replacing him with polar bears—and now they’ve added penguins.
Move over elves. Thanks to Coca-Cola, Santa now has some new helpers to spread the holiday spirit this year. To help celebrate the holidays this year, the popular Coca-Cola Polar Bears and the familiar Sundblom Santa are joined by a festive group of penguins.
Led by the Polar Bears, the entire family of Coca-Cola holiday characters will be featured in the 2005 Give. Live. Love. Coke. holiday campaign on packaging, advertising, and point-of-of purchase displays. In addition, the Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan — emblazoned with thousands of lights and Santa’s grinning image — will once again visit communities across the U.S. to signal the arrival of the holiday season.
“Coca-Cola holiday packaging and commercials have become a tradition that families anticipate each year,” said Katie Bayne, senior vice president, Coca-Cola Brands, Coca-Cola North America. “Our special holiday message of Give. Live. Love. Coke. reminds people to come together and share the magic of the season and the spirit of generosity, just as our Polar Bears, penguins and Santa do.”
Whatever became of traditional Christmas commercialism?
Coca-Cola’s new slogan, “Welcome to the Coke Side of Life,” is an attempt to make the drink more relevant to customers. Mary Minnick, Coke’s head of marketing, says, “We believe there are times or a moment in the day when only a Coke will do, and that is the framework for our advertising.” Not the greatest Coca-Cola slogan of all time, is it?
1886—Drink Coca-Cola
1893—The Ideal Brain Tonic
1904—Delicious and Refreshing
1905—Coca-Cola Revives and Sustains
1906—The Drink of Quality
1907—Cooling….Refreshing…Delicious
1908—Good To The Last Drop
1909—Drink Delicious Coca-Cola
1917—Three Million A Day
1922—Thirst Knows No Season
1924—Pause and Refresh Yourself
1927—Around the Corner From Anywhere
1929—The Pause That Refreshes
1930—Meet Me At The Soda Fountain
1932—Ice Cold Sunshine
1934—When It’s Hard To Get Started, Start With Coca-Cola
1935—All Trails Lead To Coca-Cola
1936—It’s The Refreshing Thing To Do
1938—The Best Friend Thirst Ever Had
1939—Whoever You Are, Whatever You Do, Wherever You May Be, When You Think of Refreshment Think of Ice Cold Coca-Cola
1939—Thirst Stops Here; Makes Travel More Pleasant
1939—Coca-Cola Goes Along
1941—Work Refreshed
1943—A Taste All It’s Own
1944—High Sign of Friendship
1945—Coke Means Coca-Cola
1946—Yes
1947—Relax With The Pause That Refreshes
1948—Where There’s Coke There’s Hospitality
1948—It’s The Real Thing! (First time this slogan was used.)
1950—Time Out For Coke
1950—Help Yourself to Refreshment
1951—Good Food And Coca-Cola Just Naturally Go Together
1952—Coke Follows Thirst Everywhere
1952—What You Want Is A Coke
1954—For People On The Go
1955—Americans Prefer Taste”
1956—Coca-Cola – Makes Good Things Taste Better
1957—Sign Of Good Taste
1957—There’s Nothing Like A Coke
1958—The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke
1959—Be Really Refreshed
1962—Enjoy That Refreshing New Feeling
1963—Things Go Better With Coke
1970—It’s The Real Thing
1971—I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke
1975—Look Up America
1976—Coke Adds Life”
1979—Have a Coke and a Smile
1982—Coke Is It!
1985—We’ve Got A Taste For You
1986—Catch The Wave – Red White & You
1989—Can’t Beat The Feeling
1990—Can’t Beat The Real Thing
1993—Always Coca-Cola
1993—Taste It All
2000—Coca-Cola Enjoy
2001—Life Tastes Good
2002—All the world loves a Coke
“It’s the Real Thing” and “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” are two of the most memorable slogans that have helped to define the Coca-Cola brand.
“True Love and Apple Pie” was the title of the original version of the song released on the New Seekers album We’d Like To Teach The World To Sing after the commercial success of the advertising version, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.” The song was made famous in 1971 by the outstanding Hilltop ad campaign for Coca-Cola in which children from around the world, dressed in ethnic costumes on a hilltop in Italy, sang:
I’d like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love,
Grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves.
I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony,
I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
The Hilltop ad campaign is regarded as one of the greatest television advertisements of all time, and is one of the highlights of the 50 Years of Coca-Cola’s Television Advertisements recorded by the Library of Congress.
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola reprised the “Hilltop” theme with a controversial ad campaign code-named “Chlltop” for the introduction of a new diet soda named Coca-Cola Zero. The introduction of the new slogan this week coincides with the announcement of a new Coca-Cola drink combining regular Coke and coffee, named Coca-Cola Blak.
There’s also a short chronicle of the first century in Coca-Cola’s creative history at allaboutbranding that’s a good overview. And, Snopes has lots of Cokelore, aptly described as “a collection of Coke trivia and tall tales sure to refresh even the most informationally-parched reader.”
Posted: December 27th, 2005 |
Category: Uncategorized