Fritinancy

New writing on Medium: Is it curtains for the Wienermobile?

Processed-meat maker Oscar Mayer announced last week that its “iconic” Wienermobile—the adjective is apparently compulsory—which has tootled along American streets since 1936, would now be called the Frankmobile, a tribute to the company’s 100% Beef Franks. Say it ain’t so! said a bunch of branding folks of my acquaintance.

But hang on: Is this really a rebrand, or is it just a seasonal stunt? In my latest story for Medium I look at how the (branding) sausage is made. Enjoy, and don’t forget to clap (up to 50 times per story!).

Read You Say Wienermobile, They Say Frankmobile. Let’s Call the Whole Thing ... Publicity?

Blog bonus #1: Wiener literally means “of/from Vienna” (Wien in German), just as frankfurter means “of/from Frankfurt.” If you’re interested in why we call a wiener a hot dog, Barry Popik’s Big Apple blog is the place to go. 

Blog bonus #2: The Oscar Mayer wiener song, accompanied by the Wiener Whistle (now called the Frank Whistle ... at least for a while). The jingle was retired in 2016.

Blog bonus #3: The story behind that other Oscar Mayer jingle, “My Bologna Has a First Name,” as told by former Oscar Mayer marketing VP Jerry Ringlien. Watch all the way to the end to see the original ad.

 

"Unpregnant"

Waiting to cross a street in my Oakland neighborhood, I noticed this sticker on a telephone pole:

“Need to be unpregnant?”

 

The blurry text on the left reads “Juniper Midwifery abortion pills by mail.” There are several services around the country that call themselves Juniper Midwifery (possibly because juniper needles are an abortifacient); this Juniper is based in New York and provides abortion pills in six states, including California, where surgical and pharmaceutical abortions are (still) legal.*

“Juniper” is a good name, but what really piqued my interest was unpregnant. I hadn’t seen the word previously—or thought I hadn’t—but in fact I just hadn’t been paying close enough attention.

New on Medium: The zen of everything (and more things)

My latest story for Medium was inspired by Medium’s own Project Zen, which promised to deliver a “zen-like reading experience.” What, I wondered, could that possibly mean? And what does zen mean in all those company names: Zendesk, Zenify, Zenhub, Urban Zen, and on and on? If you too are curious, hop over to The Zen of Everything, and don’t forget to clap (with one hand, if that’s your zen-like jam. And if you want to stay in the flow, here’s a referral link for Medium membership.

A few things I omitted from that story:

Word of the week: Doom loop

During the last month or so I’ve tracked more than a dozen stories about San Francisco’s retail “doom loop,” and spotted many others stories about other doom loops—in climate, banking, politics, procrastination—elsewhere in the US and the rest of the world.

Top four “doom loop” stories in Google News, May 13, 2023

 

The word often paired with “doom loop” is “spiral.”  Sometimes the term is “death spiral”—and the editors are not referring to figure skating.

New writing on Medium: How BlackBerry got its name

BlackBerry, the new feature film from writer/director Matt Johnson, opens in theaters on May 12. I saw it last month at the San Francisco International Film Festival, at Lucasfilm’s Premier Theater in the Presidio. (Driving directions specify “Look for the Yoda fountain.”) I enjoyed it a lot, and I bet you will too, especially if you loved your BlackBerry as much as I loved mine.

Blackberry 7280, circa 2003

 

I did notice one missing plot point, and so my latest story for Medium, “How the BlackBerry Got Its Name,” fills in the gap. Click your little keyboard to read the story and then tap the clap icon if you liked it—up to 50 times per story! That link will give you a free pass, but if you want more goodies, you can join Medium with my referral link.