The biggest brand news this week wasn't new at all. Consignia announced that two years and 拢2m after changing its name from Royal Mail -- during which time it achieved 98% recognition, if not admiration -- it was changing it back again.
Not only did the move win cheers, and divert a little attention away from the 拢1bn loss and 17,000 redundancies, the news it was only going to cost 拢1m suddenly made Royal Mail look positively prudent when compared with PricewaterhouseCoopers. It only leaves you wondering why it changed its name in the first place when it had worked for more than 360 years. It's another boon for the royalists, coming as it does in the Jubilee year -- the name was originally thought up by Charles I -- just going to show that you can't trust the peasants to do anything right.
On Sunday, PwC revealed that Monday was the new name it had chosen for its consultancy arm, as it revealed it was spending $110m (拢75m) over two years to make the change.
While the media pointed out that Monday was generally considered the least favourite day of the week, and quoted from the Boomtown Rats classic 'I Don't Like Mondays', PwC, understandably, had a different take on the day.
"It will have meaning and stand for something -- real people, real experience, real business," chief executive Greg Brenneman said, forgetting to mention anything about real profits for Wolff Olins, which is advising on the change.
And how great is the advice of the experts? A new report out this week claims that companies promoting themselves as socially responsible will attract more attention from anti-brand activists.
'Marketing the Revolution', written by Michael Mosbacher and published by the Social Affairs Unit, says that radical activists see companies that put forward a green or liberal agenda as "simply deceiving people about the true nature of their business". Mosbacher says this is related to a new breed of activist and the rise of anti-globalisation. Your best bet is not to try, because some guy in a balaclava and baseball hat will still put a brick through your window.
The findings fly in the face of current thinking about corporate social responsibility, as corporations such as McDonald's and Unilever seek to prove their environmental and ethical credentials, investing in reporting and consulting, and even creating internal positions looking after this area.
Ah, tomato ketchup, is there nothing you can't do? Earlier this year, it was reported that ketchup could help slow the growth of prostate cancers if one serving a day was consumed.
Now it is reported that the red stuff (or green or purple, depending on the latest Heinz marketing wheeze) could help prevent both breast cancer and osteoporosis. More chips for me, please.
The Scots may have a reputation as being big drinkers, but the rest of the world isn't far behind, as whisky exports topped 1bn bottles last year. The Scotch Whisky Association said that 2001 was a record-breaking year for sales. "Scotland is a tiny nation, yet we produce a spirit of such prestige that it is enjoyed in even the most far-flung corners of the globe."
Figures show that it is the Asian markets that are growing fastest for whisky, with sales in Korea up by 26.5%, while the Japanese are knocking back 32.9% more of the stuff.
In the brand revival file this week... Volkswagen is to revive the Combi van design favoured by crusties and aging hippies the world over. It has decided to manufacture a new, retro-style Microbus -- no doubt hoping to recreate the success of the VW Beetle and the new Mini. It is creating 1,500 jobs in its Hannover factory in the process.
'Spider-Man' may be this year's comic-book hero fad, but next year it could be real-life heroes, as New York City Police and New York City Fire departments are exhibiting at a merchandise licensing show.
Apparently the demand for police and fire merchandise was so great in the wake of September 11 that the market was captured by unauthorised dealers, because the departments did not have anything to sell.
Now it is to offer merchandise ranging from dolls and stuffed animals to bottled water and computer games, hopefully generating in the region of $1m (拢700,000) for the Fire Safety Education Fund in the process.
The problem at Manchester United is not the lack of merchandise, but the abundance of it. The Times reported that the world's richest football club is at risk of destroying the value of its brand if it continues with its habit of slapping the Man Utd name on every product on sale.
As well as the standard videos, books and kit, it has its own tomato ketchup, a television station and soon it will have a chain of cafes in Asia. Design consultants Landor Associates, however, warned that sticking its brand on the 150 or so items it currently endorses could damage Man Utd in the long run.
But the brand that could be in the most need of help this week was Martha Stewart, after it was reported that she was under investigation for insider trading over the dumping of ImClone Systems stock.
Stewart, the doyenne of American domestic life, was swift to deny any impropriety in the sale of the stock (how does she have time with all that cooking?). However, the media could not resist speculating on how the high priestess of good taste would cope with serving time. The New York Post speculated which of her own products she would choose to decorate her cell, citing selections from her bedding, lighting and garden ranges to create that home-away-from-home feel.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .