Everything that's wrong with branding . . .

. . . or maybe pop culture, in one easy-to-loathe moment.

From the NY Times:

Unsure of how best to freshen the musty franchise, the studio commissioned market research, which to its delight found that Lassie retained an 83 percent “brand awareness” among Americans; words like “loyal,” “hero” and “heartwarming” were most often associated with the character.

“We realized that Lassie has an authenticity that makes her a merchandising holy grail,” Mr. Francis said.

Story.

(Nice pun in the headline: Lassie as Salesdog: One More Trip to the Well.)