In the world of Mad Men consumer advertising, first you name it, then you sell it.(1) OK, it’s a little more complicated than that. In naming a consumer product, you consider what that product might mean to the consumer and study what types of terms resonate. And when the product is launched, and gathers ahead of steam, you protect the name which has now become a brand. But what would happen if the consuming public had a way of verifying your claims, of talking to each other, of doing their own research? Welcome to the Internet and today’s real world. (2)
In our present day consumer world, if a name or brand gets overtaken by the facts, you change the name. Witness Philip Morris morphing seamlessly into Altria or prunes make-over as “dried plums”. (3,4) The latest example of this phenomenom is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which the Corn Refiners Association says has gotten a bum wrap. They’re asking the FDA to bless a new label they consider more accurate – “corn sugar”. (5) Turns out that HFCS is at the center of America’s food revolution and is losing the battle, and in the middle of the skirmish is mass confusion around the meaning of one word – sugar. (6)
Posted on | September 15, 2010 |
In our present day consumer world, if a name or brand gets overtaken by the facts, you change the name. Witness Philip Morris morphing seamlessly into Altria or prunes make-over as “dried plums”. (3,4) The latest example of this phenomenom is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which the Corn Refiners Association says has gotten a bum wrap. They’re asking the FDA to bless a new label they consider more accurate – “corn sugar”. (5) Turns out that HFCS is at the center of America’s food revolution and is losing the battle, and in the middle of the skirmish is mass confusion around the meaning of one word – sugar. (6)