Tags. They may be on

the periphery of the brandscape per se, but what the hell has gone on with advertisers and their responsibility compasses -- or is it just the widespread effect of our intolerably poor education system? If you find a way to screw up your tag -- the limbless mission statement that it is -- then you might consider a return to memorizing daytime TV schedules and standing in line at Kinko's begging the antiChrist for your first shot. [Er, FedEx Kinko's. My braind's still trying to wipe that merger off the disk.]

Seems the agency workforce has become the latest vertical to be assumed by the roving mass of uneducates, similar to how the government did decades back. In the same way, the standard of excellence has disappeared. And no one cares.

Allow me to whine, opine, and pine for the intelligence of yore. The Mazda Summer Sales Event spot I just witnessed includes in the dialogue of a hapless Toyota representative: "This Mazda 3 drives as good as they say." How could anyone client-side allow this through?

Of course, this joins the ranks of such Copernicus-level grammatical wonders as "Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood" and "Where You At?".

Is it any wonder American kids can't speak proper-like? Why should any child be expected to use the predicate nominate in an educated manner when the almight television can't?

[Yeah yeah yeah. I know. There's "Think Different", which purposely eschews grammar rules as a structural matter of course. Yeah, you and I get it. (And okay, I love it. But my Apple bias is sickening.) Anyway, that tag wasn't stupidity. It was point-clarity.]

SOAP-BLOX EXTRA: We all know Coke's "The Real Thing", right? Let's look at the only tags this brand has had in THIRTY-FIVE years:

- It's the Real Thing. (1970)
- I'd like to Buy the World a Coke. (1971)
- Coke adds life. (1976)
- Have a Coke and a Smile. (1979)
- Can't Beat the Real Thing. (1990)

Simple, understated brand advancement.

Currency:

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