{"id":4689,"date":"2019-07-12T17:20:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T21:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=4689"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:48:02","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:48:02","slug":"when-branding-goes-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/when-branding-goes-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"When Branding Goes Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

How do you find the right name, logo<\/a>, or face for today\u2019s multi-headed corporate hydras? Is it even possible to successfully brand a company in a way that doesn\u2019t feel both insincere and pandering at the same time? Based on the evidence below, it appears the answer is no.\u00a0Have a look at these examples of big business getting their image terribly wrong, from disastrous name changes to horribly-named mascots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

tronc<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In 2016, news paper conglomerate Tribune Publishing decided to change their name to tronc, Inc. (as in \u201cTribune online content\u201d). To celebrate their bold new vision, they also released a baffling video<\/a> in which their CTO and CDO babble about how the newly formed \u201ctronc optimization group will… harness the power of our local journalism, feed it into a funnel, and then optimize it.\u201d Two years later, the company returned<\/a> to Tribune Publishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Velcro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Like Bubble Wrap, Kleenex, and Xerox, the word Velcro has become so generic that it\u2019s all-too-easy to forget that it\u2019s a trademarked term held by the VELCRO\u00ae Brand Companies. It appears the threat of genericide<\/a> drove VBC to create this music video<\/a>, in which a team of \u201clawyers\u201d insist that the word \u201cvelcro\u201d is neither a noun nor a verb\u2014it\u2019s \u201cour brand\u201d. We\u2019re not quite sure what the hell is going here, but we have no intention of watching the behind-the-scenes footage<\/a> for any further illumination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fukuppy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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We sympathize with the plight of Japan\u2019s Fukushima Industries Corp.\u2014maker of industrial refrigerators and freezers just happens to share its name with the location of the worst nuclear disaster of the last 30 years. But when the company released a super-cute new mascot<\/a> in 2013, in an attempt to move away from the now-tainted name, they had no one but themselves to blame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insys Therapeutics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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For reasons that will become evident just a few seconds after pressing play, this video <\/a>\u2014which shows a pair of sales bros rapping next to a dancing opioid spray bottle\u2014was never intended to be seen by anyone outside of biotech company Insys Therapeutics. All that changed in this past February, when it was presented as evidence in the racketeering trial<\/a> of five Insys executives, who were found guilty and will be sentenced in September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

G4S<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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