Chocolate candies, red dye, and the power of perception

In marketing, perception is reality. In the mid-1970s, health concerns arose over the use of the dye amaranth, commonly known as FD&C Red #2. Studies linked the popular food coloring with cancer. Mars Inc., makers of M&M’s, decided in 1976 to replace red M&M candies with orange ones. Did the candymaker eliminate red M&M’s because […]

Lessons from Google’s new Chrome icon

This week, Google unveiled a new, simpler icon for its Chrome web browser. In a blog post explaining the change, Google designer Steve Rura wrote, “Since Chrome is all about making your web experience as easy and clutter-free as possible, we refreshed the Chrome icon to better represent these sentiments. A simpler icon embodies the […]

Change — and controversy — are brewing at Starbucks

Starbucks has decided to rid itself of the bothersome words “Starbucks Coffee” in its logo and leave behind only their green mermaid. The company says it’s making the change because it sells more than coffee. This is a pretty familiar issue to printers who debate changing their name from SomeName Printing Company to SomeName Marketing […]