Good Week/Bad Week in Branding

Good Week: Hostess – On its deathbed only a year ago, the iconic snack brand has been revived by its private-equity owners and announced plans to launch an IPO this fall. The resurgence hasn’t been pretty: hundreds of bakeries and outlet stores shuttered; thousands of jobs cut. But Nasdaq waits with open arms, investors are salivating, and only a ding dong would bet against Hostess returning to its rightful place atop the very bottom of the nutrition chart.

Bad Week: Hoverboards – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announces recalls of more than 500,000 of the motorized, self-balancing, no-hands scooters – the must-have toy of the past two years – due to faulty batteries that can catch fire or explode… both of which were the hallmarks of a must-have toy when I grew up.

Worse Week: Chipotle – Still reeling from its E. coli setback, the restaurant chain’s top marketing executive – the very guy charged with restoring the brand’s image – was arrested in New York on seven counts of cocaine possession. The bright side: given how slowly the lines (joke #1) move at most Chipotles, it’s clear the problem isn’t organization-wide.