Tag: branding

I’m on PayPal’s side

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I never really noticed it, because I’m a human being that has a functional brain and knows how to read things before I press buttons, but apparently, there are actually people out there who get tripped up by the similarities between the PayPal logo and the Pandora logo, and now PayPal is suing Pandora for trademark infringement.

Consumerist accuses PayPal of going a little too far in dragging Pandora’s reputation onto the ground, to which they’re not entirely wrong, but I think you also kind of have to think of if you were PayPal; another well-known entity out there has basically lifted your identity and colors, and dumb people are confusing someone else with you.  That’d piss me off too, and make me say some unpleasant things publicly, if it helps expedite a resolution.

Ultimately, PayPal’s redesign came first, so in my opinion, they have the high ground in this debate.  And I think they do have some ground to stand on, because sure, Pandora is only one P versus two, but it also doesn’t help that the blue gradient within the Pandora P is basically mixed out of the two solid blue swatches that make up both of PayPal’s P’s.

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It looks like Darth Maul had sex with a stormtrooper

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Debuting in America twenty years too late: Introducing for the first time in America, the Honda Civic . . . TYPE-RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I almost said ten years when I really meant to say that I would’ve been really excited about this news twenty years ago, but honestly, I’d probably have been more excited when I was 25 too.  God damn I’m fucking old now.

But regardless of my age, for all intents and purposes, the Civic Type-R is finally coming to America.  17-22-year old me would be ecstatic about this news, and swear to somehow manage to save enough money to be able to get one but ultimately fail miserably when other life priorities emerge.  25-year old me might consider this as a hard want, but eventually deduce that it would be a fiscally irresponsible decision and stick with their completely paid-off car until it eventually died.

And 35-year old me simply brogs about it, injecting wit, snark and saracasm that I think appeals to way more people than it probably actually does.  All six of them.  Well, zero, considering my site’s been down for over a year now.  Whatever, I’ve never stopped writing, even to a non-audience.

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I’d gladly take an ass-beating for a few mil

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I think that unless you’re living under a rock, most people have heard now about the United Airlines debacle where a passenger had his seat “re-accommodated” which was apparently corporate-ese for “physically removing from aircraft by means of yanking them out of seat, bashing their face into an arm rest and dragging a bloodied body away while numerous other passengers video record the whole incident and let it go viral on social media.”

Yes, it’s truly horrific that this happened, yes, United Airlines has found seemingly the worst possible combination of choices in a field of many, and yes, United Airlines is already in the fallout of a lifetime having lost at the time I’m writing this nearly $1.4 billion in lost stocks, sales, partnerships and other financial channels, with the number continuing to escalate as the saga continues.   By now, we’ve seen the videos, we’ve read the crocodile-teared apologies, and seen the endless litany of hilarious memes.  We’ve all got our opinions about United Airlines, and our own thoughts on the story that we know of.

Most are appalled by United, and probably would make a conscious effort to avoid them moving forward, and that’s completely understandable.  Lots of people feel bad for the man, basically targeted, assaulted and basically a sacrificial lamb in this captivating story; it also doesn’t help that he was a minority, although imagine how much worse would this story be if he were black?  And just about everyone by now has had a good laugh at a meme about the situation that has probably created way more awareness to the story than there would’ve been from people who simply pay attention to the news.

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APORKALYPSE NOW

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Last weekend, I drove past a Hardee’s in South Carolina, and I saw on a fairly nondescript roadside sign saying “APORKALYPSE IS HERE.”  The sign was pointing at a Hardee’s, but the name “aporkalypse” definitely caught my attention.

Was this a rogue franchise making up an item?  Or was this something on a broader-scale release?  It didn’t matter what, I couldn’t stop repeating the word in my head, and I felt that I had to know.

Man, it’s hard to imagine the times in our lives when we all didn’t have smartphones and mobile internet, and couldn’t acquire information at the drop of a hat, wherever we were.  Thankfully being out in the sticks of South Carolina wasn’t enough to choke out mobile data and I was able to Google what aporkalypse was, and now I know what I’m going to have for breakfast over this weekend.

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Hoots to declare bankruptcy

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

…is the headline that we’ll probably be reading at this time next year.  Because if you didn’t hear, the Hooters company has decided to attempt a spin-off restaurant concept, called Hoots, which will feature most of the same food, but less tits, less ass, more clothing, but most notably, more dong; they will additionally have male servers in addition to females.

Sure, times change.  Things change.  Stay ahead of the curve.  Don’t wait until adversity to start adjusting.  Embrace new ideas. 

I get it, Hooters is trying to do something new, diversify their brand, perhaps tap into the demographic of people who think the parent restaurant concept is sexist, disgusting and not worth spending any money at.

But if there’s one company that doesn’t really need to take these kinds of risks, it’s Hooters.  People don’t go to Hooters for the food, although their wings are pretty great, not to mention a buffalo chicken cheese dip that I recently had that was pretty awesome.  No, people go to Hooters for a very transparent reason that men like to look at pretty women wearing tight, tacky uniforms, eat shit food, drink beer, and watch man-centric television when no waitresses are in sight.  Women go to Hooters to keep tabs on their men, indulge in the same shit food, and judge other women.

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LA Chragers logo talk

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

No, that’s not a typo.  In my circles, they have always and will always be known as the Chragers.

Anyway, if you haven’t heard which is very likely because despite my love of sports, like 10% of the people I associate with actually follow them, but the NFL team once known as the San Diego Chragers have announced that they will be moving to Los Angeles.

Back in 1996, the Cleveland Browns were moved to Baltimore, where they became the Baltimore Ravens; they left the Browns name behind, which was convenient for when the NFL expanded again years later, and the Browns were resurrected into the perennial basement.  Such was not the case in San Diego, and the entire Chragers brand, identity and personnel are all going up I-5 to LA.

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What a creative shocker

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Atlanta United FC unveils their official team uniforms, they turn out to be red with black stripes – almost entirely how I had predicted.

Don’t get me wrong, black and red is a cool color combination.  Very hard, very urban, kind of counter-culture.  Black denotes something a little bad, rebellious, with a dark side.  Everything goes with black.  Black and red is the nWo Wolfpac, the supposed cool nWo, as opposed to the old fogey Hulk Hogan led black and white nWo.

But black and red is also the same color combination used by the University of Georgia and the Atlanta Falcons.  I’m pretty sure the Atlanta Hawks have at least one alternate uniform that’s black and red.  If it were even remotely justifiable, there’s absolutely no doubt that the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Tech would bust out a black and red alternate uni if they could.  If Mitchell & Ness actually make hockey apparel, they’re probably already trying to figure out how to incorporate black and red Thrashers merch as throwbacks to the now-Winnipeg Jets.

Black and red is old hat, played out, overdone, here in Atlanta.  Lining everything in gold trim doesn’t change the fact that all anyone will primarily see are blacks and reds whenever Atlanta United FC is playing.

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