Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Nooks, crannies and fine chianti


Several weeks ago, I was contacted to work on a small assignment. NDA and professional discretion prevent me from saying too much about it. But I can reveal it was a tagline exploration. 

Of the hundreds of taglines explored, one of mine made its way to the contender list. But then lost because I used a word not often seen in the dumbed down vernacular of the day. Not at all surprising considering  75 million Americans plan to vote for a presidential candidate who talks about man-eating sharks, cancer causing windmills and the many fine attributes of fictional serial killer, Hannibal Lecter.

He's also a convicted felon.

Lesson: Never overestimate the intelligence of the American people. 

This all came home to me the other day when I went to my local Pavilion's supermarket to drop $400 for groceries. Those same 75 million Americans believe the shark-fearing man has a plan to lower the prices for groceries, which rose following the worldwide pandemic. 

He doesn't have a plan other than to tell you, "Prices will come down, because CEOs who run supermarkets are afraid of me."

Yeah, OK, Grandpa Ramblemouth.

Back to supermarket. As I was nostalgically walking down the aisle and remembering days past when I ate bread, loved bread, now I only dream of it, I walked by and spied a package of Thomas' English Muffins. There, right on the package, was a testament to the power of branding.

See if you can spot it:


That's right. I'm talking about the nooks. And the crannies. I'm talking about the nooks and the crannies.

If you're anything like me, not the bread denying weight-obsessed waif I've become, but the casual observer of life's little oddities, you know that when you hear the words "nooks and crannies" you immediately think of Thomas' English Muffins. 

Conversely, when you hear the words Thomas' English Muffins, you immediately picture a perfectly measure pat of Irish salted butter dripping across that rough tableau of warmly toasted nooks and/or crannies.

I'm no planner or strategist, but my spidey sense tells me that when the genii at Thomas' made that move and hung their pastry chef hat on those words, the average American consumer (again, never to be overestimated) had no idea what a nook was nor had they ever associated it with a cranny.

Or an English Muffin.

My point: Unconventional wisdom beats conventional wisdom (AI and Data mining) every day of the week, twice on Sundays, the best day to enjoy a Thomas English Muffin.


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