Best/Worst Brands Issue #54: Women’s History Month, Bezos, WonderGalaxy, Nike's Dream Crazy, Will Ferrell

3 minute read

I’m resurrecting my Huffington Post column I wrote from 2009-2016, here on LinkedIn. Why here? I get the best (and most critical) comments and real-time feedback from smart people like you. And I want that. 

You’ll read about the best/worst corporate and public figure brand moments of the previous week in addition to timeless musings– across industries and demographics. 

As one reader once said, “your column is so grounding it's like taking a Xanax in the middle of a clusterf•ck of a day.” 

It’s Women’s History Month, which I’m praying we won’t need to celebrate in twenty years because important female pioneers in their chosen craft, like abstract artist Hilma af Klint, will equally be taught and celebrated in schools. Hilma af Klint (as in Alona af Pikesville), was the first abstract artist ever documented, before Malevich. In 1906, Hilma af Klint painted her first series of abstract paintings and they are on view at the Guggenheim. Go see it. And if you go, may I suggest you wear this from Moncler’s new Autumn/Winter Genius Collection? No jacket required.

What I found most interesting about the whole Jeff Bezos National Enquirer scandal was that Bezos posted a blog on Medium not his Washington Post, called “No thank you, Mr. Pecker” where he accuses the Chairman of American Media of “extortion and blackmail” in response to lascivious photos Pecker obtained of Bezos and lover, Lauren Sanchez. In an everyman move, Mr. Bezos posted all 2000 words on Medium. That’s like walking into the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Improv Class you signed up for only to find out Will Ferrell has also registered for the class. Jeff Bezos’ blogging on Medium is a reminder that blogs, like hotels, occupy an important third space–not an email, not an official bylined article, but this other place where anyone can communicate and interact with the world. Jeff, you aren’t unraveling like they say, you just earned 254,000 Medium claps.

Nike’s ‘Dream Crazy’ video brings attention to women’s expressive behavior and ambition which is most often seen as erratic, crazy, while those similar behaviors of our male counterparts are mostly interpreted as edgy and self-possessed. I'm grateful to Nike for making this conversation top of mind again, but they only took it out of the driveway. We need to get to the highway with the topic. As a confident woman, I experiment daily with softening expression like a sound mix engineer in a Charlie Puth post recording session. And it is exhausting. While I am laid back, yet passionate and deeply interested, I reign in my expression like a corset. Nike, It would be great to also share what these heroes experience–before and after the grunts, cries, retorts. Getting to the resolute is messy and that should also be a part of this conversation to take it to the next level–to the highway. My greatest legacy, I hope, is to inspire and mentor women in the workplace, not with a display of my successes, but my failures . (Hi Nike, Let’s Do It :)

I have a childlike naiveté that never dies. Imagination and fantasy flow freely. There is no more appropriate image of the interior of my Moroccan-German brain than than this WonderGalaxy interior by Patricia Bustos which can now be seen at Casa Decor, an annual interior design conference that began in 1992 in Madrid. "We asked why, as adults, we usually opt to banish fantasies, stop our imagination, and become more serious and formal,” said Bustos Studios. My mantra: Never Stop Playing.

Of course, I have my days where I think everything is shit and the world is ending, but mostly it’s WonderGalaxy. 

I’m a bit annoyed that Alaska Airlines’ new ad campaign was rewarded by AdWeek. The brief probably went like this: “Show how you get more with Alaska Airlines.” So Alaska does the metaphor thing and shows they are more than:

1. A cheap employer who has questionable employee perks

2. A distracted spin class teacher, ignoring her students

3. A puny molecular cuisine dish at a threateningly niche restaurant

Literally, change the logo at the end of the commercial and this could be ANY brand. If Alaska Airlines had a Geico sized budget, they could do 600 more ‘MORE THAN’ spots over the next 3 years and earn brand recognition. My advice to Alaskan Airlines is to own ‘MORE THAN’ more than any other brand by continuing this conversation across all channels. There's no turning back now.

BONUS BRAND FLASHBACK: In 2017, The xx and Calvin Klein partnered to launch The xx’s “I Dare You” music video and CK’s 2017 collection. This video was mesmerizing, beautiful and functional. It featured stars like Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things and Ashton Sanders from Moonlight dressed in CK and told the story of what happens when kids cut class and go to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Snowden House and Land John Lautner’s Rainbow House. This cobranded video promoted the CK brand by communicating a tone of voice, creating a narrative, and shoring up with a great partner (The xx) to create an experience.

Brands spend a lot of time telling people what they sell, not what they stand for, and it’s got to be both–profound value and big voice. The only thing I would have liked for this CK film is for it to own a bigger storyline like “Off the phone, into the World” and to have these influencers be a part of that. Brands don’t think they are entitled to these big human truths, but not only are they entitled, audiences want them.

Got feedback? Share in comments. All press inquiries, please DM me.