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Pepsi: Breathtaking Design Strategy (2008) [pdf]

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Re: Pepsi: Breathtaking Design Strategy (2008) [pdf]

#11

I see bullshit jobs existed in 2008 also. "a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though, as part of the conditions of employment, the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case."

This is the most elaborate form of BS i have seen to date.

My only take away from this post is that I like the 1962 skeuomorphic Pepsi logo with the bottlecap.

Re: Pepsi: Breathtaking Design Strategy (2008) [pdf]

#15

It kind of makes me sad thinking about all the time and talent and money that went into this with the main purpose of getting people to buy and drink more (unhealthy) colored, carbonated, sugar water.

Breathtaking because of the breathing issues caused by obesity-induced apnea?

It kills you, literally takes the breath away.

Re: Pepsi: Breathtaking Design Strategy (2008) [pdf]

#16

despite how silly this may seem to many in the HN audience, I will contend that: if you were running a multi-billion dollar sugar water company whose main moat is the brand, and spent hundreds of millions on ads each year as one of the key line items in the budget, you too would want this level of sophistication and thought put into a brand refresh. Probably even more. And you can imagine that this document was debat…

It’s not the level of effort that’s weird, it’s the terrible output despite the level of effort.

Re: Pepsi: Breathtaking Design Strategy (2008) [pdf]

#17
post #7

What a load of crap. Is this what design boutiques do day in day out? Can anyone tell me if there is even an iota of meaning in the design process?

I've worked in small and big design shops. When done right, the process should make sense to a layperson, like you're respecting their intelligence.

This Pepsi rebrand farce feels more like The Emperor's New Clothes. My guess, and someone with more knowledge can absolutely correct me, is that whatever agency bid for the job, they knew they were basically milking Pepsi for every penny they could, and it was pure greed. And in order to justify the utterly exorbitant estimate, they pulled so much bullshit out of their asses hoping to completely overwhelm the clients and utterly baffle and confuse them and make them feel too stupid to even ask about anything.

Basically, design process should make sense and be understandable to the average empathetic, intelligent business owners.

Re: Pepsi: Breathtaking Design Strategy (2008) [pdf]

#18

It kind of makes me sad thinking about all the time and talent and money that went into this with the main purpose of getting people to buy and drink more (unhealthy) colored, carbonated, sugar water.

Well, that's what happens when you make what people want... I guess.
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