Branded...

Remember Fido-Dido? (And no, I’m not insulting a singer, I won’t go down with that ship.) I’m talking about that goofy, stick-figure, cartoon character that 7-Up used in their campaigns in the early ‘90’s. I just wanted everyone to know that Fido-Dido is alive and well in the Islamic Republic. After his fifteen minutes of soft-drink marketing fame had expired in North America (correct me, but I think he even had a video game) he apparently moved to South East Asia to cling to the dream. Just this morning I saw a billboard with Fido-Dido reclining with his 7-Up alongside a pretty sub-continental girl.

Which makes you realise that this part of the world is really a marketer’s dream. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. No new ideas? Who cares? The free-market explosion that Pakistan has throttled through in the past 5 years, most industrialized countries sauntered through over 5 or 6 decades. Suddenly things are being marketed, branded… It’s sad to see, since I have no love lost for the corporate, capitalist model. Companies are pushing Western style frozen and fast foods and people buy them because of what they represent. The main Pizza Hut in Karachi is the highest grossing Pizza Hut in the world. Of course, I’d rather have local food any day, but I understand the process. I feel a rant coming on, but I shall resist for fear of being downsized.

For now anyway, I’ll just raise a glass of fizz to Fido-Dido - hold on to that lemon-lime dream buddy. I just could never figure out how a stick figure could get so many girls with a soft drink. I ususally have to use alcohol.