[Richard Shear] Last Friday, mischief night, and the moon was full, the Yankees had the night off, and the new AIGA Metro-North chapter celebrated its first year by hosting a special Halloween Dead Brands evening in Sleepy Hollow, home of Washington Irving’s famous legend of Ichabod Crane, the Connecticut schoolmaster, and his escape from the headless horseman.
An inmate from the Tropicana Department of Brand Corrections {Joe Cuticone}, artist Frida Kahlo {Sarah Ficca}, a Pan Am stewardess {Lee Moody}, and a Bear Stearns trader {Rob Sivitilli} were among those who joined guest of honor Michael Bierut. Each was given an award for their costume at the event.
This new AIGA chapter is dedicated to advancing the discipline of world-class branding – brand creation, management, and evolution – that is designed to optimize and sustain competitive advantage of organizations, products, and services over time. Hence the notion of celebrating Dead Brands the night before Halloween.
Michael, who lives in the village along the Hudson, spoke of the “Seven Dead Brands of Sleepy Hollow.” These brands included Washington Irving, Old Croton Aqueduct, Maxwell-Briscoe Company, Kraft Fudgies, Pocantico Expressway, Gory Brook Road, and Village of North Tarrytown.
He ended his talk with an announcement, met with universal acclaim, that he is moving his local AIGA chapter affiliation from the New York chapter to the Metro-North chapter. And we have him on tape!
The evening was sponsored by Sterling Brands, Lucid Brands and the new Masters of Professional Studies in Branding at the School of Visual Arts.
Photography: Scott Lerman
See all the photos and view the videos at:
http://aigadeadbrands2009.shutterfly.com/