Origins

I came across an interesting tidbit this morning in my latest commute reading material (Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein). It's a fun little story of the origin of state pride (and Will Ferrell's George W. Bush impression):


Now, I had no idea where I thought the slogan came from. I just assumed it was, like, stamped on birth certificates. I feel dumb for not knowing it was actually a campaign that started in the mid-80s to get young, Texas men (who appeared to be the biggest offenders) to stop littering on the Interstates. Oh ya, it worked. Big time. And the department of transportation is very defensive about it, too.

Why do I think this is cool? Because it shows that sometimes the best laid plans of branding and identification aren't always intentional. The campaign accomplished its first goal - reduction of trash - but I don't think it was intentional that the department built a lasting identity for the State Republic of Texas.

So, good content, not necessarily forced tactics, wins. Knowing your audience, wins. Simplicity, FTW.

And that's a great segue to another story of ridiculous origins, how about this one:


Who knew it would only take one step to connect classic television game shows to World of Warcraft *without* using South Park?