When Dick Sittig named his highly successful ad agency “Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Co.,” he had all kinds of fun with people who mistook the shop for—who’d have thought—a seafood company. This became something of a problem when they were pitching the Porsche account. Eventually, Sitting changed the name to Secret Weapon.
Starbucks has added flavored coffee beans—caramel, vanilla, cinnamon—to its retail line-up (though not in its cafes). That Starbucks. They keep discovering customer wants and filling them—late. On the other hand, Starbucks coffee ice cream covers a multitude of sins.
Advertising Age just listed the best 30 places to work in marketing and media for 2010. They were rash. They should have talked with someone who works here first. On the other hand, maybe they did, but we came up as Number 31.
—Steve Cuno