Actually, Kerry did quite well in his debates against Bush, which should give Obama some comfort. Kerry, on the other hand, probably derives little comfort from the assessment that had he not performed so well in the debates his loss to Bush wouldn't have been so close.

Did you intend to link to this AdAge column: http://adage.com/article/al-ries/marketers-stop-change-consumers-call-a-brand/233086/ The link above takes me to a Ries column from 2008.

Well, the Cubs have a longer championship drought, but at least they've been competitive within recent memory. Here in Pittsburgh, the Pirates teased their fans with a winning run before the All-Star, but then tanked and recently sealed their 19th consecutive losing season. Trying having that marketing position.

Ironic, RepMan, considering that transperency is no doubt one of the first things you counsel new clients.

I have two small children, 5 and 3, who are well-behaved in restaurants and did wonderfully when we flew -- economy class -- to Florida last year. But unlike some parents, I do not have a sense of entitlement that my children should be able to go everywhere, and that there should be no child-free zones. I think it is a backlash against this mentality as well as the growing number of childless people that is leading to more child bans. Recently a restaurant near Pittsburgh garnered headlines worldwide for banning children under six. Before I could take offense, I remembered a night my wife and I went out to dinner, before we had children, and were surrounded by so many ill-mannered children that we asked to be moved to the smoking section (this was several years ago) simply because there were no kids there.

I suppose if you were the victim of a shark attack, or are close to someone who died in one -- a rather rare occurrence -- you would be offended. But I'm willing to admit I thought the spot was funny, particularly the one with the guy coming in at the end to give the sharks another taste. Call me tasteless if you will. Now, I will admit to at some point questioning the internal logic of the spots. If sharks appreciate the taste of peanut butter, why not just give them the candy directly? Perhaps I'm overthinking it...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one underwhelmed by this earth-shattering new approach. And if the idea is to break down barriers, why create such constricting titles?

Oops, I meant "lack an appreciation", not like.

In fairness to my younger counterparts, I've encountered older PR professionals who also like an appreciation for their organization's strategic goals. They assume that only the marketing folks have to worry about that, and insist on maintaining the artificial barrier between the two functions.

I'm assuming they don't generate enough money from advertising to cover their costs?