Monday, December 11, 2006

Random trivial thoughts for pre-Christmas rush

This is a busy time of year for me, so posting rate may be a little more intermittent than usual.

Here's some random information discovered this weekend:

1. Lego Bionicles have some of the worst assembly instructions I have ever seen. Being able to assemble one within 2 minutes should qualify the assembler for entry into Mensa.

2. To my surprise, the English dictionary that comes with Firefox 2 recognises the word "Bionicles" but only when preceded by "Lego".

3. Lego appears to have re-introduced more general, non-themed sets of blocks, which is a good thing for children's imaginations.

4. I met someone who works for Coca Cola and was told that "Coke Zero" was meant to get away from the feminine image that "Diet Coke" has by virtue of the word "diet". (It is also meant to compete with the success of Pepsi Max in terms of having a stronger flavour.)

However, I reckon if you want a name that will appeal to men as much as women, "Zero" is hardly the way to go. If you put a bunch of men in a focus group and asked them what they associate with the word "Zero", isn't it more than likely going be negative ? "Zero chance" is the first thing I reckon would come to mind for many.

Just how much money on creative types did Coke spend to come up with a dud name like that?

Pepsi Max still tastes better anyway.

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