More Ayn Rand backlash to come?
Ayn Rand
Remember my post about all the s**t Lululemon was getting about using an Ayn Rand quote on their reusable bags? (Refresh your memory by clicking here.) Well, Women’s Health Magazine posted this tweet the other day:
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.
-Ayn Rand
While it is inspirational, I’m curious to see if Women’s Health Magazine gets the same sort of backlash from its readers (excluding me) for quoting such a controversial author. I guess we wait and see…
What’s in a name?
As in the past, students at London, Ontario’s university will receive a degree that says “University of Western Ontario.” But it you receive a letter from the same institution or visit their website, it’s “Western University” (with the exception of their URL…it’s still UWO.ca).
Why the change? In an article from the Globe & Mail, the school’s president believes it will make the institution more recognizable around the world, more friendly to international students.
But what is really in a name? For as long as I can remember, we’ve always called it “Western.” Very rarely did you hear it called “University of Western Ontario.” So what’s the big deal? It’s the same school, with the same programs, and students, alumni, faculty and staff will still feel the same attachment to it.
How do you feel about the name change? Good? Bad? Could you care less? What if they changed the name of the university you attended?
Yoga people aren’t all that open-minded after all
I saw this article this afternoon after my computer crashed at work. I was cruising the Globe & Mail website on my BlackBerry and had to read it, because the title intrigued me (as a good headline always should). Read the article by clicking here.
Let me first say that I do yoga, although not religiously (wait…can I talk about religion and yoga in the same breath?). And, I’ve read Atlas Shrugged.Several times. One of my best
courtesy hughhewitt.com
buddies suggested that I read it about 8 years ago, and I’m glad he did.
What really bugs me is how angry people (read: “yogis”) are getting at Lululemon for creating these shopping bags. Even if Lululemon is a little off on the whole meaning of the book, part of the purpose of putting “Who is John Galt” on the side of their reusable bag (you know, the ones every trendy woman and yogi carries her gym clothes and lunch around in? Yeah, those ones), is to get people to think about how they can make their lives better, to take the bull by the horns and strive to accomplish anything they put their minds to. And to do all this without caring what other people and/or government (aka “the man”) thinks or says. You are your own person, so don’t be afraid to show it.
I especially enjoy the part in the article where the “yogi” claims that the concepts in Atlas Shrugged don’t mesh well with the values of yoga…but doesn’t say what those values are. Was she around when yoga was first practiced hundreds of years ago? How does she know what the values of yoga are, and, more importantly, why doesn’t she explain how they aren’t compatible with what Ayn Rand was writing about more than 50 years ago?
Oh, and her quote about “I don’t want people looking at me with that little logo on my pants or on my hoodie and thinking I’m going home to read Atlas Shrugged after, you know, downward dog…” Can you really judge someone based on the logo that’s on their hoodie? Conservatives, liberals, communists, existentialists, athiests…they’re all wearing Lululemon. I’ll bet John Galt and Ayn Rand would wear a Lululemon hoodie, just because they are so damn comfy! What you decide to read on your own personal time should not have any bearing on the clothes you wear (and vice versa).
(I know this post is really about communications, but it is a rant, so it still fits in a bit. Anyway, I had to get this off my chest because I found it so utterly ridiculous.)
I applaud Lululemon for asking “Who is John Galt” on their shopping bags. Personally, I would be proud to carry my lunch and gym clothes around in that bag. And I would be proud when people asked me about it, because it would get people thinking in a different way, maybe even a scary way. And I encourage everyone to read Atlas Shrugged…just don’t think about getting cozy in your Lululemon attire first.
(To read Lululemon’s blog post about the bags, click here.)
courtesy piccsy.com
What will happen to the iWorld now?
Steve Jobs passed away today, succumbing to a rare form of pancreatic cancer. I saw the news on my Facebook news feed first, and thought “oh well.” He is currently trending on Twitter (and probably will for the next 24 hours, at least), and I’m still not interested.
You see, I never got absorbed in the Apple/iXXXX world. I had an iPod Nano for about a year. Then the battery crapped out and I never went back. I never found a good reason to switch to an operating system that wasn’t always compatible with businesses I was dealing with, I couldn’t use the music in other programs easily (if at all)…and then there’s the whole not-compatible-with-Flash thing. I mean, really? Really. I never did, and never will, understand the hype.
I know millions of people think Steve Jobs was a genius, and yes he was. He made millions of dollars by sucking people in to a cult-like following, revolving around words following the letter “i”. But as I sit here, writing out this post on my BlackBerry, I still don’t see what the big deal is.
So Steve Jobs has passed. It’s sad, sure. But the world will still spin, the sun will still rise tomorrow, and some new genius will come along and brainwash people with the next big thing very soon.
Logo Designs
I just wanted to share some of the logos I have designed over the past few years. If you need a logo, drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do!
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Experiencing the new Starbucks logo
I had a little surprise today during my usual pre-class visit to Starbucks…cups with the new logo have arrived! I noticed, even with the heat-protector sleeve on the cup, that it was the new logo. The little star at the top of her crown was peeking over the protector, giving a sneak peek of the new logo, live in person.
I don’t know how long they have been in Calgary now, but when I was at the airport this past Friday, it was still the old logo, so I’m guessing they landed here on Monday.
Take a look at your next Starbucks cup…did you notice the logo?
The importance of a good font
Companies, corporations, and organizations spend thousands and thousands of dollars selecting, developing or creating a font for themselves. Something that evokes an emotional response, something that makes them stand out from the crowd, something that gets them noticed and helps bring in the money.
Have you ever wondered if a personal font is important for your image? The folks at Pentagram think so, and even have a site where you can go and find out what your font should be, based on your response to 4 simple questions. You can take the test here.
As a blogger and wanna-be designer, I think it’s important to have an identity like this. My font, according to Pentagram, is Archer Hairline. Unfortunately, I have to pay a small fortune if I want to use it. But it’s nice to know. And I am curious to find out what effect using the font would have on the stuff that I do. Would I get more readers? More site visitors? More Flickr comments?
What font are you? Do you think it fits your personality?
Rotating chicken, 24/7
The fireplace channel at Christmas – I get that. An all sunset channel – I get that one too. But chickens rotating on a spit, 24/7? That’s just crazy.
In case you haven’t heard, this is part of Swiss Chalet’s newest marketing initiative. They have purchased time (all day every day until May) on a TV channel in Ontario, that will be all chicken, all the time (check out the Globe and Mail article about it here).
You probably know what I’m talking about, if you’ve ever seen a Swiss Chalet commercial. At the end of the commercial, they show the 2 rows of chickens, rotating on spits in an oven. They look tasty, but you only see it for maybe 5 seconds. Could you actually watch that for a longer period of time, and not start to think it’s disgusting?? Sure, it would be a laugh for 5 minutes, but any longer than that…
Good thing it’s only being aired in Ontario!
New Starbucks Logo
I came upon this article on FastCompany today and found it pretty interesting. It talks about how there is actually some science behind logo designs, rebranding, and what works and what fails. It sort of goes back to my post about Gap’s new logo, and maybe they really did act to quickly in reverting back to their old logo design. Maybe they’ll take another stab and using the new one once they read the research…
You can read the FastCompany article here.
Redrum, or just plain cool?
First off, I will say that I am obviously not very hip, because I have yet to see this in Calgary. This new concept for bathroom advertising is so cool! AddMirror is using 2-way mirrors and motion-sensor technology to advertise in a whole new way (read the article from the Globe and Mail here).
For years we have been bombarded with the static ads on the back of the bathroom doors, where the only benefit was that you had something to read (a downside – I often wanted to go shopping after I leave the ladies room). Now you have TVs set up in bathrooms, on the stall doors, or even mounted on the wall in the change room at the gym. They have sound and motion pictures – you can watch TV while on the can…isn’t that every man’s dream?
But this new technology is really neat. It’s captivating, interactive, and unexpected. People will leave the loo and tell their friends about it, prompting more people to visit the restroom just to check it out. You have a captive audience (depending on how many drinks they’ve had, ha ha), and can target your message extremely well. I imagine there may be benefits to the businesses who actually have the technology installed in their washroom – people will talk, and people may visit that establishment just to see the cool bathroom (you should ask my mother about how I always had to check out the bathroom at a restaurant when I was a child…).
My next question – can I buy their stock?
The Big Brother Effect
Yesterday, I received some mail from Air Miles. Inside were some coupons and offers from different Air Miles sponsors, including Safeway. I shop at Safeway once a week, and yes, I often buy the same items week after week. In my Air Miles package of coupons and offers, were 6 or 7 coupons to receive bonus Air Miles when I purchase certain items. All of these items were items I purchase week after week after week.
I looked at it, and quickly thought “wow, that is really creepy!” I know retailers have been able to track my purchases for years. We see it on Facebook with the ads on the right targeted to the items we have listed in our profiles. We see it in the junk mail we receive because we are on someones mailing list. But it never really hit me until yesterday when I looked at those coupons for my most commonly purchased items.
As a normal Jane Doe, I probably wouldn’t think twice about it. I would look at those coupons and say “great! I purchase these items ever week, and this week I will get some bonus Air Miles for purchasing them again!” But since I have started at my new job, I have learned about a project we are doing that will do the exact same thing for our customers. You buy a book a Chapters, we will know and we will be able to provide offers for similar items in the future. You have 3 kids who like to play hockey? We’ll send you discount offers on hockey tickets.
I don’t know about you, but it makes me stop and think about how much information is really out there about me. How much do I want to share with the rest of the world on social media sites (a little hypocritical I know, since I just started blogging and it gets posted to my Facebook page when I’m done…) How much to companies and corporations really have a right to know about me? True, it’s all about helping companies make more money, but it freaks me out a little bit…
Swag – trash or treasure?
The endless argument about the value of swag took place again last week. For those of you who don’t know, swag is those little gifts you get from companies, with the company logo, slogan, and is usually something that will sit on the corner of your desk gathering dust, because you don’t know what else to do with it.
The thing is, it works. That imitation leather bookmark where you can insert your own photo – the next time you need some printing done, you’ll remember the bookmark the printing company gave you the last time you ordered something….or the coffee cup, or the stupid ball that comes apart in a puzzle, never to be reassembled again.
Many people don’t see the value of swag. It’s a waste of money, it just ends up in the garbage. But the thing is, it works. You leave something on someone’s desk, with your logo, website address, and tag line, and I guarantee you that person will visit your website at least once. Or they will say something nice about you when your company comes up in a conversation, because they remember the puzzle-turned-van-shaped-pencil holder you left on their desk. It doesn’t have to be overly expensive or elaborate, but if you give someone a gift, your karma points increase by at least 5. People want something tangible, to know they are special. So never underestimate the value of swag. $2 per person can mean millions down the road.
Caving to Peer Pressure
I’m sure you saw it: The Gap revealed a re-design of their logo. Their was outcry (over 2000 comments on the company’s Facebook page). And now they have gone back to their original logo. I wonder if people would have stopped shopping at The Gap just because they changed their logo? Would the world have decided that white t-shirts and kakhi pants were no longer the ultimate uniform, because their favourite clothing company changed their logo? I doubt it…
(Read the Globe & Mail article here)
