NEW: What The Duck!
Explore the origin stories of the weirdest—and most iconic—brand names, assets, & campaigns
For anyone new here, I’m the founder of Woo Punch, a brand consultancy rooted in evidence-based brand design. I write about the evidence that debunks brand purpose, differentiation, brand love, loyalty marketing, customer personas, color psychology, mission statements, customer engagement, AdTech, and “hustle culture.”
Want to chat about your brand? Schedule a free intro call.
What The Duck! Is A New Paid Newsletter From BrandingBullshit.com
If you’ve enjoyed my free Branding Bullshit newsletter, don’t worry—you’ll still get all the general articles for free.
But…
If you upgrade your subscription,* you’ll get access to What The Duck!
What The Duck! will feature behind-the-scenes history, quirky anecdotes, and the surprising randomness behind some of the world’s most memorable brand identities and campaigns.
What You’ll Get
Behind-the-scenes brand history you won’t find in textbooks
Quirky anecdotes that show why randomness can make a brand iconic
“Meaningless distinctiveness” in action
If you upgrade to get access to What The Duck!, I may even invite you into my “brand tribe” and refer to you as my “ducklings.” Or maybe that’s too infantilizing? You tell me.
Have you ever wondered:
Where did MailChimp get its name?
How Aflac adopted a duck to represent their insurance brand?
Why Toblerone is shaped like that?
Or maybe you’re wondering “why the duck” is this newsletter called What The Duck!?
Years ago,
and I had a short-lived video blog/podcast. We wanted to showcase the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s idea of “meaningless distinctiveness” in action. So we picked a duck at random—and Stef worked his AI magic to bring it to life, even composing an intro song based on the duck’s image!The execution was… questionable.
But the point was clear: people remember what feels unexpected and a little absurd.
What Is “The Duck?”
The duck is shorthand for that random asset, name, or campaign that appears completely out of place within its category. It can even refer to actual ducks—the Aflac Duck and Duck Tape (the brand name, not duct tape) are silly ideas with staying power.
Brands like Domino’s, Apple, and Wendy’s are also memorable precisely because of a bit of illogical human ingenuity. A pizza chain named after dominos, apples with nothing to do with tech, and a redhead named Wendy weren’t carefully calculated names. They were quickly generated ideas—and sometimes personally meaningful—but that’s what makes them iconic.
They had no place in their categories. You would never guess the product just by looking at their distinctive brand assets or hearing their name. As a result, they burrowed into our brains more efficiently—and ensured they couldn’t be copied.
Strange but True Origins
Despite the absence of strategy in their conception, there are still fascinating stories behind these brands:
Domino’s was originally Dominick’s
Wendy was named after Dave Thomas’ granddaughter
Apple’s name conception was far less mythic than folklore would have you believe
The Mercedes-Benz logo was sentimental
The Energizer Bunny was the Duracell Bunny before Energizer stole it
We’ll also revisit iconic mental cues that were abandoned for absurd reasons—proof that even the best mental hooks can be lost to overthinking or boredom.
Much like the recent Cracker Barrel and Jaguar redesigns, there were “strategic” reasons for abandoning the following iconic assets as well:
“Cool Spot” from 7-Up
“Snap, Crackle, & Pop”
The Tootsie Pop Owl (spoiler: he’s bAAaack, and they didn’t change a thing)
That corn-looking logo for Easter Seals
SurveyMonkey’s name (for those couple of months)
“Captain Obvious” from Hotels.com
This is your insider pass to the stories behind the brands everyone thinks they know.
What The Duck! Is For Everyone
My hope is that people outside the branding industry will enjoy What The Duck!—who doesn’t love a bit of trivia? But, in a special way, it’s for creatives, business owners, and marketers.
Creatives and business owners need inspiration to let their hair down and stop overthinking every design and naming decision.
Marketers and creatives who love standing out need ammo to convince clients to take a walk on their wild side—and actually impact the bottom line.
This Is Not Another “Logo History” Publication
Most newsletters and books stop at logos.
What The Duck! goes further—uncovering the origins of mascots, names, jingles, campaigns, package shapes, and more. Instead of rehashing obligatory, boring origin stories, we’ll zero in on the wonderfully weird brands that transformed oddball names, quirky mascots, and offbeat ideas into assets so sticky you can’t forget them.
Upgrade today* to get access to this new paid newsletter. You can cancel anytime—though fair warning: you may never look at brand identities the same way again.