The marquee under their logo reads “Gifts from $1 to $35,000.” Those who know me know that I detest the over-commercialization of Christmas, and the Holiday season in general, and since the marketing blitz starts earlier each year (before Halloween even this time; come on, really?), it’s a problem that is clearly not going away. There is irony to this, of course, being that I am not at all what most people would call religious, but I do think there is a certain spirit of the season that gets overlooked by far too many people.

So, in a time where people are less than mindful of the reason for the season, and the focus of most (especially in the advertising world) is on selling product more than any other time of the year, there is something refreshing about the simple honesty of the marquee pictured above. It makes no attempt to disguise that it’s trying to sell something to you, but simultaneously it manages to acknowledge that the importance lies in the meaning behind a gift rather than its price tag.

It shouldn’t matter what you spend, on either end of the spectrum, so long as what you’re buying is a symbol for how you feel rather than a substitute for consideration. Bravo, Powell’s.

Side note 1: (I realize the picture here is of poor quality. I will update it with a better one next week).

Side note 2: I realize I may very well have been the victim of genius grade marketing trickery, but considering the source I doubt this to be the case. Also I’m a romantic in the worst way so I refuse to believe this isn’t genuine.

Would you believe me if I told you what you see in front of you is not some sort of blatant knockoff, but in fact a new, highly specialized McDonald’s store? What if I told you it was located in Japan? I thought so.

McDonald’s seems to have launched a new brand initiative in the land of the rising sun which strips away all of the familiar McDonald’s iconography (e.g. the Golden Arches, Ronald McDonald (and posse), any instance of the color yellow) in favor of stark red and black fields of color with large, clean sans serif type. It’s as though we are bearing witness to the illegitimate child of McDonald’s and The Sharper Image (God rest its soul). Hit the jump for the breakdown of this strange and interesting new idea.

Instead of building on one of the most widely recognized brands in the world, this new move seeks to scale back and distill the branding message down to the bare essentials, spawning a new sub-brand entity that can mostly operate on its own yet still relies on its parent for support and recognition. The new aptly named Quarter Pounder stores exist solely to peddle a single product, in two forms: The Quarter Pounder Meal, and The Double Quarter Pounder Meal. It introduces convenience via a minimum of choice (at least, in theory), and I expect streamlines the process of acquiring your monthly dose of cholesterol in a single sitting. Of course, the burning question is, will it work?

In some cases, I can see how this might be an indecisive person’s own personal hell, but I think that in general the idea is a sound one. I’m not completely sold on the execution; I feel that if they were going to go for a striking sans serif, they should have gone with something bolder or more condensed, instead of this awkward middle weight. (The only type treatment that seems to work correctly is that which the world “double” is set in).

The color scheme feels a bit more dark and foreboding than it ought to be; having just watched V for Vendetta this week, I am immediately lead to see this as the government sanctioned burger joint of an Orwellian regime. Also the red feels a smidge to dull for my liking. The overall connotation I get from this is “COME ENJOY QUARTERPOUNDER; THE DOUBLEPLUSGOOD CHOICE OF THE PARTY.” All these things need is a gigantic Big Brother poster (the character/leader, not the television show, you philistines) on the inside and maybe some fancy listening posts for the thought police and we’re good to go.

Ok, so perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch. But I do think that something about it is a wee bit off. The idea behind it though, is a good one. The Quarter Pounder is already a household name in burgers (much as it pains me to say so), so it makes a lot of sense to capitalize on the untapped potential for leaning on the Quarter Pounder brand as a means to drive more sales (as if McDonald’s needed it). And, given the culture of megacities like Tokyo and its hordes of Sararīmen, teenage consumers and people in general, where efficiency is a way of life, I think this could actually be fairly successful.

It’s made the fast and easy dining option even faster and easier, and in an environment where consumers are inundated with incessant input, the stark, easily identifiable (albeit garish) Quarter Pounder shops will likely serve as a beacon to all those in search of a no familiar, no fuss foray into lunchland. Whether this will turn out to be a case study on “Mega Branding No-Nos” or “How to Properly Sub-Brand Your Brand” remains to be seen.

Originally noticed at InventorSpot.
Thanks to Josiah for bringing this to my attention.

It has occurred to me that there are a great many people (and businesses) out there who claim that they are “Green” or “Sustainable,” and so they start recycling more or maybe reusing a coffee cup or biking to work/school/the brothel more often, and that’s about where it stops (particularly on the individual level). The problem with this, of course, is that changing one habit and hopefully sticking with it 80% of the time isn’t exactly “going green.” Granted, we all have to start somewhere, but if all you do is carpool to work one or two days and still drive in alone the rest, you’re not fully committing to it.

This is coming more from a place of exasperation than admonition; I happen to be predisposed to getting irritated by people who talk but don’t walk, so to speak. Also, I think I’m just tired of hearing people say they are “going green,” because really, most of them are not. I am all for saving the environment and prolonging the lifespan of the planet, but let’s not ease ourselves into a false sense of accomplishment over an absolutely minimal effort. It’s comparable to running the first 100 meters of a marathon and saying you finished it. Ya dig? This ain’t no relay, people.

Now, that being said, I still want to make a point of mentioning that “Green” or “Sustainable” practices are still far preferable to the whole “Organic” deal. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get yourself some healthy organic products; it does mean that given the choice between the two, you ought to opt for “sustainable” stuff, as it tends to pack many of the same healthy benefits to your own system, and it has a positive effect on the environment. Organic = selfish. Sustainable = communal.

Of course if you’re the type who doesn’t put any stock into this sort of leftist touchy-feely psychobabble, then feel free to suck down some more Big Macs while you tear ass down the interstate in your circa 1998 Humvee; you’ll be inadvertently solving another problem for us.