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Steve Jobs announces “the greenest Apple product ever”

Another revolution from Apple? This one’s alive. Just when you think the god-like product development powers of Steve Jobs couldn’t go any further, he launches a product that creates life itself. Let the hyperbole begin! Behold: the ChiaPad. “I really cannot say enough about this latest miraculous, life-affirming, intuitive, and super, super green device, so I [...]

iPad, uPad: Apple meets the push-up bra

Apparently iPad has been enhancing feature sets for a while…. So of course, Beg to Differ was riveted on Wednesday by “The Big Speech”. No, not the State of the Union Address: it was the unveiling of a new product by Apple that had our attention. And apparently, we weren’t the only ones watching: so were trademark lawyers [...]

How to name a chicken sandwich: thoughts for branders (1)

Part one of a series on product naming. So, after months of waiting, the baby is finally here. No, I don’t mean my actual baby – my wife and I are still waiting for the arrival of our third little bundle at the end of November. I’m talking about the new chicken sandwich Brandvelope named for KFC in [...]

Bad branding in orbit: Guy Laliberté soars while his cause brand drops

Guy Laliberté has always had his head among the stars. But all this week, the French-Canadian founder of Cirque du Soleil – and #562 on the Forbes list of wealthiest people – is actually circling the earth as a paid tourist aboard the International Space Station. And true to form, he’s using the opportunity to do [...]

Of skateboards & stripping poles: thoughts on the Mitsubishi City Chase brand

Last Saturday, my brother Brent and I ran and rode OC Transpo buses all over Ottawa. Along the way, we (over) acted in soap opera, skateboarded, played croquet, danced around stripper poles (no nudity involved – this year), and ate really, really gross stuff. Not a normal Saturday for us or the more than 900 other [...]

Starbucks: beer, bands, & baristas

Coffee giant tries to get mojo vibrating again Once, Starbucks was just a local coffee shop in Seattle. Then it became a mega-brand, standard-bearer for the premium coffee category worldwide. But lately, the “star” has been fading, and even the “bucks” are drying up. So now the chain will be re-launching a few of its [...]