Ah yes, it’s the end of the year and time for all those wrap up, bests, worsts and just plain wrong lists. Recently, TippingSprung (now there’s a brand name with its own problems) conducted a Brand Extension Survey which sought to determine the worst brand extensions of the year. Topping the list was Precious Moments which came out with a coffin based on the company’s cutesy collectibles.
In second place was the Humane Society which came out with a Dog Lovers Wine Club and in third was Hooters for its Girls Gone Wild apparel line. Hooters also topped the food extension list with its Hooters energy drink. In past years, Hooters stuck out as well for its Hooters airline brand extension.
Ries & Ries Laura Ries, in reaction to the findings, put it succinctly, telling BrandWeek, “Hooters doesn’t stand for energy. It stands for boobs and chicken.” You’ve got to wonder if father Al passed the baton to Laura on this one for good reason. Listening to Al discuss boobs would be as skeevy as reading an article about boobs written by some horny male ad slut like Steve Hall.
