Good Week/Bad Week in Branding

Good Week: Alternative Energy – In the same week that it announced it would abandon plans to expand oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast, the Department of Interior approved the creation of a 127-square-mile wind-energy area off Long Island for development of a large-scale commercial project. Double-good news for enviros, but a crushing blow for seagulls.

Bad Week: Tribune Publishing – The newspaper giant’s plan to add the Orange County Register and Press-Enterprise to a stable that already includes the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune earns an antitrust suit from the Justice Department alleging a monopoly over sales and ad rates in two of Southern California’s largest counties.

Bad Week: Tuna – Two of the iconic food brands from our collective childhoods – Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea – recall more than 30,000 cases of chunk light tuna for potential contamination. When the press release uses the word “pathogens,” you just know some execs are gonna get canned.