This is everything that is wrong with Branding

I'm saving this article (Brian Braiker's"How Osama's death will affect the al-Qaeda name" in Adweek) not because it is insightful, but because it is asinine. It is the pinnacle expression of everything that is wrong with the ideology of branding. I'm saving it so I can deride it at a later date in a more thought out manner.

Some highlights (or lowlights):

"Had al-Qaeda paid better attention, it might have learned a lesson or two from Florida orange juice."

"To be sure, al-Qaeda is by definition a fringe group—a brand aligned with extremism and out of touch with the rest of the world. But insofar as it is a brand, to what extent does the death of its founder affect its prospects going forward?"

"Adweek asked Brad VanAuken, chief brand strategist at the Blake Project, how he would (hypothetically) consult al-Qaeda going forward. "To live on past Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda must successfully launch attacks of at least the scale and shock value of the attacks of 9/11," he wrote—reluctantly, he said—in an email. "If this does not occur, al-Qaeda will eventually lose its cache."

"Something for the surviving members of al-Qaeda to ponder over a delicious glass of Florida orange juice."