Brand Mix

Michael and Farrah are gone. So are Oscar and Daniel. But, before we get to them, let's start with United Airlines:

1) United Breaks Guitars – “My God, They’re Throwing Guitars Out There": brandeo

Having had my own recent misadventure with United (Flight 123 from Chicago to LA: Rudeness/ arbitrary rule-setting. Thanks Joe!), I was more than ready to appreciate this video. Dave Carroll watched his guitar get smashed by baggage handlers from the window of the plane and tried unsuccessfully to get compensation before resorting to this novel approach. So now we know how to get United's attention--just record a song that gets YouTube traction (1.5 million views and almost 10,000 comments). (Mr Carroll politely told them to give the money they offered to charity.) What was I thinking just registering my own complaint with a single tweet and filling in the standard online form? Clearly not response-worthy.

2) Evian’s hip-hop roller babies: Responsible or not? The Responsible Marketing Blog

Undeniably cute video but responsible? Not if you agree with the Sierra Club and others waging war against bottled water. I've written about bottled water a few times on this blog but the industry's troubles continue. Just this last week, a town in Australia voted to ban bottled water sales and Congress was questioning its safety.

3) maybe you could do this with some free time and an olympus camera: Brandflakesforbreakfast

60,000 pictures, 9,600 prints. No post production! Olympus camera promotion inspired by Takeuchi Taijin.

4) Oscar Mayer dead! Huffington Post
Oscar Mayer died at age 95. Over in France, Daniel Carasso also died. He was 103 and the creator of Danone yogurt. The longevity of both gentlemen a good endorsement of their very different products.

5) Strongbow cider tells bankers to “sod off”: JWT Anxiety Index

Everyone loves to beat up on bankers so here's Strongbow telling them to "sod off." A populist sentiment but, as one comment points out: "“Hahahaha, right? Sod off, bankers! Yeah! Let’s buy some cider, because clearly this is a company that understands the working class. Oh, except: Scottish and Newcastle, brewers of Strongbow, was just recently purchased by Heineken, a public company, in a transaction supported by Credit Suisse, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Fortis, HSBC, ING, and JPMorgan Chase. So actually, the joke’s on the working class after all."

6) When it rains, it bleeds: brandflakesforbreakfast

Yikes! This new billboard in NZ definitely gets the message across. When it rains, the billboard gushes blood to remind people of the dangers of driving too fast in the conditions. Wouldn't work in the UK unless there was someone refilling the storage containers every few hours.

That's it! See you here on the blog or on Twitter (@martinjbishop) for more stories from the world of brand strategy.