#553 Trademarked

Branding is interesting. The idea is to fix something so firmly in a person’s mind it’s permanent.
Like it’s seared into your flesh with a hot iron.
But in your brain.
McDonald’s “I’m lovin it” campaign is coming close after a kajillion repetitions.
It’s Golden Arches are in our DNA.
Coke and Pepsi’s logos are unmistakable and more recognizable to most children than stop signs. That’s what every maker of every product and every owner of every business aspires to. Instant recognition of their name, slogan or product.
So you can believe that they are very careful when they first name a product. They want it to be friendly, accessible and most of all memorable. Catchy. Maybe even a little clever.
Nemo the clownfish did well. Woody the Toy Story cowboy rose to fame quickly but then wilted as soon as Shrek the ogre out-weirded him.
And take the Big Mac.
There’s a name for a sandwich that caught on. Almost as many people know the Big Mac as know Coke. (And the Big Mac is only snorted when someone tells a well-timed joke.)
People even know how it’s constructed. Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onion on a sesame seed bun. Marketing genius. The first time a whole recipe branded itself on the American consciousness.
Except the generic, no relation, Mac and Cheese.
Maybe that’s why McDonalds took a turn into unknown territory. They named a sandwich after its composition. Heck with cutesy names. Heck with branding something with the McLabel convention.
The McDLT took a nose dive into hamburger oblivion and the Big Mac glistens on its shiny grease-coated pedestal of ideal name recognition, let’s name the new sandwich the, I know, “Quarter Pounder with Cheese.”
A weight and an accessory.
Quarter pound what? Pattie, of course, but we don’t need to mention it. The hamburger is assumed. And quarter pound? Perfect. Sounds so much more hefty than 3 ounces.
Again, genius. Who’d have thought you could have a successful branding campaign with a food item by naming it after its weight.
It’s the fast food paradigm in a nutshell.
Flavor is secondary.
America ya gotta love it