Pribek

Man oh man, there’s nothing I like better than a big ol’ sack of Frito’s brand corn chips.

The other day day, I was working on some chord substitutions and snacking on some Frito’s and I thought to myself; “I wonder if country music superstar Tim McGraw likes Frito’s brand corn chips as much as I do?” Then, I thought to myself; “Wouldn’t it be great if country music superstar Tim McGraw did like Frito’s and he was inspired to design his own special flavor of Frito’s brand corn chips?”

Then, I saw this from Billboard Biz. It was like a spicy dream come true.

Not only will Fritos be the “official snack” of Tim McGraw’s upcoming Live Your Voice trek, but the food company will also give the country artist his own chips flavor: the limited edition Tim McGraw Spicy Jalapeño Fritos.

Beginning next week, Wal-Mart stores nationwide will carry McGraw’s Spicy Jalapeño Fritos. The limited edition chips flavor is part of a larger partnership between Fritos and McGraw, who will also appear in TV commercials and print advertisements for the brand.

A few words about the Frito Bandito Eraser:
These were all the rage in the early ’70s. If you didn’t have one, you weren’t cool. The only way to get one was to convince your Mom to buy one of those boxes of little individual bags of Frito’s, and she didn’t want to do that because, the boxes of individual bags cost way more than it would cost to get a regular bag. If you were able to con her in getting the box of individual bags and lucky enough to score your very own Frito Bandito Eraser, it took you about 15 seconds to figure out that it couldn’t erase anything. The Frito Bandito Eraser sucked. Yet, we all had them on the end of our #2 pencils.

Hey wouldn’t it be great if they made a new Frito Eraser and, instead of the Frito Bandito, they used a likeness of Country Music Superstar Tim McGraw?

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Listen up guitar slingers. You aren’t going to be the next big thing just by practicing and getting your sound together. You want a real, practical guitar lesson? One that applies to Music 2.0, the new business model, music as a loss leader, the real deal? Head on over to Carlos Santana’s merch page.

Carlos has this branding thing down.

Carlos is the branding guitar God. Yeah he’s got the obvious stuff like Carlos Santana Strings…

and guitars…

…and even conga’s. But, check out Carlos the sparkling wine.

And, the shoes…I know you heard about the women’s shoes.

CARLOS BY CARLOS SANTANA
Women’s Rebel
Blue
$98.95

Of course, there is the Carlos, designer hotel suite…

And now, Carlos has a restaurant.

Now he’s moved into restaurants, joining Dudum Sports and Entertainment - owners of Bing Crosby’s Restaurant and Piano Lounge in Walnut Creek and Joe DiMaggio’s Italian Chophouse in San Francisco - in a licensing partnership to open Maria Maria, a nouveau-Mexican restaurant in Walnut Creek. The group, which has taken over the old Cantina chain, also plans to open Maria Maria restaurants in Mill Valley and Santa Rosa early next year.

Santana’s creative touch is evident at Maria Maria (the name of his group’s 2000 hit) and not only in the background music: He consulted on the decor and the menu, and even chose the servers’ flowery guayabera shirts.

The review was, shall we say, “mixed”…

As for the food, Maria Maria scores points for creativity. But execution was lacking in many dishes, with seafood that had seen better days and flavors that got lost in too much seasoning.

…but, if you are a guitar legend, mixed reviews are part of the territory. The important things are “Name Recognition” and “Brand Awareness”.

So kids, it’s OK to practice but, don’t spend too much time on it. You are just spinning your wheels if you don’t devote the proper effort to developing your BRAND.

Now, I gots to get out of here, I simply have to spend a couple of hours on some sketches of a new, strapless cocktail dress.

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Maybe it should be “sings on” or “croons on”. Get ready for a full force Frank Sinatra multi-media assault.

From the L.A. Times.

Late last year, the Sinatra heirs signed a pact with Warner Music Group Corp. that will bring Ol’ Blue Eyes back in a big way, not just as a digitally resurrected entertainer but also as an advertising pitchman and, potentially, the name on the marquee of a feature film, a Broadway show and a casino and resort.

Everybody wants to bet on a sure thing and there is no surer thing than Frank Sinatra, right?

I don’t know, cashing in on a legacy is tricky business. People will look but, if it’s in poor taste or misdirected in any way, it will tarnish the legend.

The heirs aren’t all brimming with confidence.

Nancy also said her father “never wanted his image to be on an ashtray” and that any advertising “must be equal to his excellence, which is not easy to do.”

Frank Jr. says…

“This is the first I’m hearing about a lot of these things,” he said. “I’m the last person to hear about these things. . . . I’m not party to all those decisions, not like I would like. That’s the way it came down.”

In has famous essay for Esquire back in 1966, “Frank Sinatra Has A Cold”, Gay Talese must of had a glimpse into the crystal ball.

In an age when the very young seem to be taking over, protesting and picketing and demanding change, Frank Sinatra survives as a national phenomenon, one of the few prewar products to withstand the test of time.

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