07 2026 April
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: I Bottled My Mother by Monica Nassif
This is the story behind the “cult-favorite cleaning line inspired by Monica’s real-life mom, Thelma Meyer: a whip-smart, no-nonsense Midwesterner who raised nine children with...
Read Now25 2026 March
Meta and Amazon Both Prove in the Same Week That Tech Company Greed May Have Some Limits
Last week, three seemingly unrelated stories offered a glimpse into a perhaps hopeful version of reality. After losing over $84 billion dollars, Meta finally shut down...
Read Now09 2026 March
The Wildly Effective #QuitGPT Movement May be the Easiest Boycott in Human History
The #QuitGPT consumer boycott movement is accelerating. More than 2.5 million people have chosen to delete ChatGPT and switch to another AI model such as Anthropic’s Claude....
Read Now05 2026 March
How Anthropic Is Winning the AI Platform Marketing War by Being Less Evil
Anthropic is winning the AI platform marketing war. In the quest to become the dominant category-defining player, OpenAI had the largest lead with ChatGPT. Then...
Read Now10 2025 September
An Advertising Campaign That Could Actually Make You Happier
You should go out and have a beer. And just in case you need a bit of encouragement, Heineken wants you to go and have...
Read Now19 2025 June
A Lesson In Marketing Strategy From the Cheetos Shape Hunt
Searching for Cheetos that are shaped like anything is a fairly idiotic way to spend your time. It’s also surprisingly popular despite its idiocy. The...
Read Now27 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Always Eat Left-Handed … And Other Secrets for Killing It at Work and in Real Life by Rohit Bhargava
Back in 2013, I wrote a career and life advice book. It was my third book and before I really understood what it took to...
Read Now30 2022 December
The Most Popular Non-Obvious Stories of 2022 (Based On Reader Feedback)
Based on this combination of quantitative and qualitative data, here is a partial list of some of the most popular stories of the year, based on what my readers shared.
Read Now22 2020 July
Trader Joe’s and the Slow Death of Brand Personality
Update – Two weeks after this post was originally published, Trader Joe’s issued a new statement sharing that they do not consider these brand names...
Read Now04 2019 February
4 Big Trends From The 2019 Super Bowl Ads That Explain Our Culture
The best part of the Super Bowl experience is always the advertising. That was particularly true this year thanks to another joyless victory by the...
Read Now20 2018 August
Why More Millennials Are Uncovering Their Tattoos At Work
For the past several years the debate about tattoos at work has gone back and forth between those who think a tattoo is taboo in the...
Read Now10 2018 August
Victorinox and How To Use Powerfully Ordinary Videos For Marketing
One piece of advice I am fond of sharing from the stage is about the importance of showing your work – something we are told...
Read Now