by Devon | May 22, 2017 | Humor, Naming
Metaphors are powerful. As James Geary explained in his Ted Talk, “Metaphorically Speaking,” we get a more vivid understanding of something because of all the analogies triggered by its metaphor. In branding, metaphors create expectations by linking the...
by Devon | May 8, 2017 | Branding, Humor
No parent is perfect, but sometimes you can do better. Other times you can’t, and that’s why there’s Kraft Mac and Cheese. Honesty is powerful. Instead of delivering yet another tired promise of convenience and time-savings, some brand manager at...
by Devon Thomas Treadwell | May 20, 2015 | Branding, Humor, Naming
Peruse the many brands of hot sauce available in the U.S. and you’ll find a collection of raucous names alluding to the potency of the sauce inside the bottle. Many names gleefully defy the safe and staid conventions of packaged goods, referring not to taste or...
by Devon Thomas Treadwell | Jul 29, 2011 | Humor, Naming, Pollywog News, Presentations
Recently, Pollywog had the privilege of speaking to design and technology students at Rasmussen College in Brooklyn Park, MN. Here is a recording of that 23-minute presentation....
by Devon Thomas Treadwell | Apr 30, 2010 | Branding, Humor, Naming
Today’s New York Times features an expose of brands with fictional or highly embellished histories–what Yale linguist Laurence R. Horn aptly calls “etymythologies.” Among the culprits: Keds’ “sneakers,” Hershey’s Kisses...
by Devon Thomas Treadwell | Apr 29, 2009 | Branding, Humor, Taglines
Today P. Scott Cunningham of the Miami New Times imagines the bureaucratic comedy of errors resulting in this:
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