‘Today I Lit A Candle With A Spoon’

Bookmark and Share

This is a true story. It has nothing to do with Uri Geller and his “ability” to bend spoons. (For more on that, see “The Stargate Folly—It’s Never About The Science, It’s Always About The Funding,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, April 28, 2022).

Well, maybe it is. In a metaphorical way.

The family went to a cousin’s wedding reception this weekend. The location was phenomenal. They held the party in a custom-built barn specifically designed as a wedding venue. It looked original. Its solid timber frame (including the use of wooden pegs to connect joints) gave the appearance of a 19th century construction. I used to work in a renovated building erected in that era. It looked similar. It wasn’t. But it could have fooled me.

What do you call something like this? Yes, the word “retro” fits. But I’m thinking of something more meaningful. It’s not quite “thinking outside of the box.” It’s more “thinkingContinue Reading “‘Today I Lit A Candle With A Spoon’”

Nobody’s Talking About Bud Light’s Real Mistake

Bookmark and Share

Budweiser accidentally stepped into a pile of putrid politics. This isn’t about politics, though. This is what nobody’s talking about. This is about Bud Light’s real mistake.

For those of you not familiar with the basic story, in a botched marketing campaign meant to demonstrate its “inclusiveness,” Bud Light managed to both exclude and alienate its core market. Since then, sales have dropped more than 20%. The latest figures show they continue to drop and that the ensuing boycott has now extended to other Anheuser-Busch products.

This is not a good look if you’re the head of marketing. And that’s where the real mistake comes from. It’s a mistake made by all too many companies, big and small.Continue Reading “Nobody’s Talking About Bud Light’s Real Mistake”

CNN+ Joins Such Iconic Failures As The Edsel, New Coke, And Alf Landon

Bookmark and Share

’

At least Google+ lasted nine years. CNN+ barely made it past nine days. The colossal flop doesn’t even merit a “crash and burn” label because that would imply it made it past the launch. The embarrassing fact is CNN+ never got off the ground. Maybe “stillborn” would be a better epitaph.

Every generation needs its version of the Edsel, Ford’s classic foray into product infamy and marketing case studies. The Edsel belongs to the Boomers. Gen X-ers get New Coke. The Millennials now have CNN+. Heck, if you want to go back far enough, you can hang Alf Landon on the Silent Generation (parents of the Boomers).

Each of these failures feature a common trait: hubris. Those in charge simply believed they Continue Reading “CNN+ Joins Such Iconic Failures As The Edsel, New Coke, And Alf Landon”

You cannot copy content of this page

Skip to content