A few months back, I read Lovemarks, a book about the future of corporate branding. Written by Kevin Roberts, the CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi, the book explored the hard-core loyalty that some customers feel for certain brands. As a Crest kid, a Tom Petty fan and an intense devotee of Kosciusko mustard, I can absolutely attest to the power of brand devotion; on the other hand, as a former Ben and Jerry's booster, I also know just how easy it is for a brand to destroy that relationship.

Of course, the ultimate example of a disastrous rebranding is Coca-Cola's 1985 decision to change its formula. As customers rebelled, the company tried to explain that numerous blind taste tests had revealed that New Coke was a more popular flavor. The mob, of course, was unmoved and, within three months, Coke was back to its old blend.

It's worth noting that Coke's originial justification for changing recipes was its competition with Pepsi. Now, a little over twenty years later, Pepsi is investing in a little rebranding of its own, with a new logo and a new can design. Starting in November, the company will be unrolling a $1.2 billion worldwide campaign to launch its fresh look.

The new design is very similar to the old one, except that the red and blue section, rather than remaining separated by a white middle, actually converge on one side. It's supposed to resemble a smile, but the comparison is a bit stretched. One commentator described the new design as being somewhat phallic, while others felt that it was similar to Barack Obama's campaign logo.

Personally, I think the new logo is more yonic than phallic. What it resembles most of all, however, is they way that my eyes used to look when I fell asleep in my contact lenses. One side appears fused shut with eye gook, the other seems to be wrenching itself open. While this isn't exactly what I want to imagine when I'm staring over a bank of soda bottles, I have to admit that the comparison will be pretty effective when I'm looking for something to wake me up!