Kellogg’s CornFakes

It’s being put about by their PR team that Kellogg’s are to individually laser etch each of their cornflakes with the company logo. Is it too much to suggest that this might not be absolutely true?

Kellogg’s conflakes laser etched

We’ve all become used to ever more sophisticated and cynical advertising from the food industry as companies have cottoned on to the fact that tinkering with loved brands or unexpectedly removing favourite chocolate bars from the shelves has a desirable viral marketing effect which they can respond to by ‘bringing back’ the product. I blame Coca-Cola. All this trickery means that we tend to view most of the releases and announcements that come from our PR friends with an even healthier dose of suspicion than even our former jaded paranoia.

So what to make of this jaunty little announcement from Kellogg’s yesterday? “Now you’ll always be able to tell your Corn Flakes from your corn fakes!”

The story is, apparently, that the company has new laser technology ready to toast the tiny logo onto a zillion little flakes a day: “We’ve established that it is possible to apply a logo or image onto food, now we need to see if there is a way of repeating it on large quantities of our cereal. We’re looking into it,” the company’s food technologist, Helen Lyons is reported as saying. When we phoned for confirmation we were told that she’s “on holiday at the moment”. Hmm.

Shortly before throwing her Blackberry to the wind and hotfooting it out of Kellogg’s HQ to pack her holiday suitcase, Ms Lyons told the Metro, Mail and Telegraph that “giving our golden flakes of corn an official stamp of approval could be the answer”. At last technology has made it possible to confound the makers of all those damned inferior flakes that would masquerade as Kellogg’s.

Presumably the technology isn’t that ready at all, given it hasn’t been used in the photograph above, which is, instead, ahem, digitally manipulated.

So what do we think ? is it an important development in food branding technology?

How about they try doing it with Rice Krispies 

Doctor, Who ?

The BBC has unveiled a new logo for Doctor Who for 2010.

The show’s official website today revealed that the ‘taxi-style’ look adopted under Russell T Davies’ reign on the show will make way for new branding that plays on the iconic Tardis design.

As well as a new title sequence with the name in full, the BBC has plumped for the letters D and W in the shape of the Tardis, which will be used in merchandising and brand extensions.

Red Bee Media is overseeingthe new branding of the show, including the logo, which was created by Tony Pipes and Matt Rhodes.

A BBC spokesman said “Doctor Who is a series which has constantly evolved and regenerated for over four decades. In celebration of the new Doctor, Matt Smith, we felt that the time was right for an exciting new brand identity for the show.”

Incoming showrunner Steven Moffat told Digital Spy: “A new logo. The eleventh logo for the eleventh Doctor – those grand old words, Doctor Who, suddenly looking newer than ever.

“And look at that, something really new – an insignia. DW in TARDIS form. Simple and beautiful, and most important of all, a completely irresistible doodle. I apologise to school notebooks everywhere, because in 2010 that’s what they’re going to be wearing.”

Matt Smith will take over from David Tennant in the lead role in early 2010.

Whats the views on the the logo ?