The BIG Kahuna

In my series “When Product Naming Goes Bad” I give you Blow. Blow comes in a white vile (powder) and is made to look like cocaine. You put it in any?drink?for a boost of energy?. If you did cocaine I guess you would know what that felt like.

It’s marketed to kids and young 20 something’s.

Pure genius huh?

This product positioning is just so offensive that it boggles my mind. To make a product that resembles cocaine and then sell it to kids, well….they just BLOW!

I wish Blow much frustration and hopefully lawsuits!

Bakery that is. Grupo Bimbo is one of the world’s largest bakeries.?

Their name “Bimbo” is making me cringe. I don’t care what they call themselves outside the US but keeping the name Bimbo in the US?is offensive to women and frankly a horrible corporate/product brand?name.

Here is Wikipedia’s definition of the word “Bimbo”:

In the English language a bimbo can also be someone who enjoys being pleased often by intercourse with unknown strangers. The archetype of a bimbo with sex appeal is much used as a stock character in comedies with sexual humor, an example being Christina Applegate?s character, Kelly Bundy, in Married… with Children.

Grupo Bimbo was established in Mexico in 1945, today it is one of the most important baking companies in brand and trademark positioning, sales, and production volume around the world. In Mexico and Latin America it is an undisputed leader in its area, with presence in the United States and 18 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia encompassing?over 5,000 products and has more than 100?prestigious brands.

Since 1980, Grupo Bimbo?has been traded in the Mexican Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores). It comprises six organizations and a corporate department that operates companies in the baking industry and in general, in the food industry.

Now here’s the rub…?

Bimbo Bakeries USA
Bimbo Bakeries USA is leader in Texas and the Western region of the country. It has 13 plants and operations in more than 22 states of the American Union and also offers premium line products under the following brands:

Now obviously Bimbo realizes the need to change some of its product names but why have they kept the corporate and product “Bimbo” name in the US? Does the name Bimbo have brand equity in the US markets? I doubt it.

One thing I found interesting was Bimbo’s take on social responsibility:

The social objectives of the company are the following: External social objective. To contribute to the full development of society, trying not to affect the social and personal fundamental values through its economic activities, but rather to promote these values as far as possible. Internal social objective. To contribute, at the heart of the company, to the full development of its members, attempting not to affect the fundamental human values, but rather to promote them.

Respect for the dignity of the human being, which is inherent to man’s nature and his transcendental destiny, and which grants him rights, that cannot be waived or alienated, and which both society and State must acknowledge and promote.

Respect huh? Do you think the executives of Bimbo really care about respect? If they did do you think they might consider a?name that wasn’t disrespectful to women?

I’m surprised the National Organization For Women hasn’t written a letter?

Can anyone make a case where the name “Bimbo” is okay in the US market? Or even offers a value?

You may remember my posts for “Horlicks” Drink?and “Bimbo” Cookies. I give you…

You couldn’t pay me to eat “Spotted Dick“!

A typical US consumer reaction to Spotted Dick:

Last month I wrote about “Bimbo” cookies. This month, well as they say “a picture is worth a thousand words”!

Anyone want to drink some “Horlicks“?

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll have enough material to write a branding?blog?everyday. Then I remind myself of the boneheads that run major companies and breathe a sigh of relief. Here’s?today’s branding blunder:

Kentucky Fried Chicken to change name to Kentucky Fried & Grilled Chicken (sort of). They are actually giving the owners the option of the name change. So apparently some will be named Kentucky Fried Chicken and others will be Kentucky Fried & Grilled Chicken.

Brilliant huh?

KFC president Gregg Dedrick said the roll-out would “contemporize” the brand and mark a defining shift in its 60-year-old identity. Kentucky Grilled Chicken would meet the nutritional needs of an increasingly health-conscious public and attract lapsed customers who had given up the chain’s fried offerings, he said.

Gregg Dedrick should fire himself, what an idiot!

Here’s why it’s very bad:

1. KFC has a lot of brand equity in the name

2. KFC is known for chicken (fried or grilled) you don’t have to beat us over the head in how you freakin prepare it.

3. Are you seriously going to give independent owners an option? It’s one name or the other!

Gosh, my blood pressure is actually boiling right now. This is by far one of the dumbest branding?moves I’ve ever seen.

Thanks to Spike at BOF for the heads up.

There is a reason I haven?t blogged for over a week. Thanks to Starband my ISP I haven?t been able to log onto our company website or branding blog. For whatever reason Starband has blocked our URL.

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Here is the saga of what not to do to a client.? I called Starband on Friday March 7^th to fix the problem. For three days they denied that it was their error. Finally I got my IT guy Jeff Sutton on it. He proved that it was in fact Starband?s error.?

Monday March 10^th and still nothing. I call Starband and speak to Rob Beck (tech supervisor) and then Ken Kate (engineer). Still nothing for 3 more days. They didn?t even have the courtesy to call back. Finally I ask to speak to he director Wayne. He ?looks? into the problem and once again denies that it Starband?s fault.?

The following day my IT guy Jeff speaks with Ken Kate and he promises to fix the problem. Next day I can?t even log on to the internet. Thanks Ken for making the problem worse.?

I call back on Saturday March 15^th. Their technically support is basically incompetent. They tell me I have to wait until Ken returns on Monday to repair what he has supposedly fixed.??

Thank God for my Sprint PCS card otherwise I would be dead in the water. Bottom line; don?t use Starband if you can help it!

Here are some other bad reviews on Starband:

Starband Bad Service

Starband Horrible Service

Starband Bad Reviews

I?ve preached about naming here on the branding?blog for a while. A great product or corporate name can propel you while a bad name can kill you.

The other day we stopped at a convenience store and bought some cookies.??

Here?s an example of what not to name a product:

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So, how many people want some Bimbo cookies?

Way back in August of 2007 I wrote a blog on WAMU, aka Washington Mutual. I award them the worst branding and advertising award.?

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The saga continues??The latest commercial features a woman asking if WAMU provides free checking for her bakery business. They then go through a poorly acted script to the payoff??WAMU gives free checking to businesses.?Split to the woman making a snow angel on top of a white cake (I think I want to throw up).??

Wow, revolutionary huh? I?ve been getting free business checking for about 5 years now from Citizens Bank. Don?t recall running out of the bank to make a snow angel though.?

?Then they finish with what appears to be a trademarked word;?Whoo Hoo???

?We want to become an iconic brand that people love,? said WaMu CMO Genevieve Smith, in a statement. ?Through ongoing brand tacking, we know we always outperform our peers when it comes to being emotionally relevant to people. [The new campaign] gives us a unique opportunity to talk about who we are.??

Let?s start with Genevieve?s own words. [The new campaign] gives us a unique opportunity to talk about who we are.? ?

Branding isn?t about you Genevieve, it?s about them. And that?s where you are 100% wrong with this campaign. First it?s unrealistic to think that a customer would go running out of a bank yelling Whoo Hoo because they just got free checking. What a horrible interpretation of making things simple for the client.

Its new ?Whoo hoo!? campaign, per TBWA/Chiat/Day,

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?The campaign creative taps into that [?Whoo hoo!?] experience and the enthusiasm of WaMu?s employees,? said Rob Schwartz, executive creative director for TBWA/Chiat/Day, in a statement.?

Here?s where the ad agency goes wrong (and this is because ad agencies aren?t true branding companies): ?

Ah, giving someone free checking doesn?t tap into the customer?s emotional appeal. It in fact does nothing at all and delivers on nothing at all. ?

I?ll bet you my weeks pay that if we surveyed 100 Washington Mutual employee?s that they themselves wouldn?t be very happy with their employer WAMU. And they certainly wouldn?t be yelling Whoo Hoo. ?

Just because you want it to be doesn?t mean it?s gonna be. ?

The new campaign brings WaMu’s brand values to life: A company that lives to simplify banking and do it with a smile.?

So the brand identity is making things easy. Okay, I get that and I?m down with it. How does this ridiculous Whoo Hoo campaign deliver on it? Wanna know a company that?s delivered on making things easy for their customers??

Staples, the Easy Button. ?

You guys have just created an unrealistic campaign that is goofy and will be forgotten by the time you switch ad agencies.?

For spending 100 million on advertising you sure do a poor job.WAMU, why haven?t you fired your CMO?

With new marketing on the rise we find blogs from companies we?ve never heard of talking about Brand Identity Guru. Because we?ve been a mainstay in the branding arena for 20 years we?ve become the source for all these young whipper snappers to, for lack of a better word attack.??

There is one such company in famous Franklin Tennessee called Ivey McCoig Branding and Advertising who has come at BIG twice. ?Check out our first response to this fledgling company: Ivey McCoig Bad Branding and Blogging.??

The setup:?

I was responding to another companies blog post on what I thought would benefit a company called USAA. I didn?t see a tagline so I suggested that a well thought out, strategic positioning line that delivered a benefit would help.

This is Ivey McCoig?s response:

?As a brand professional for more than 20 years?? Ugh. I love how you remind us of that with almost every post. It?s like you are begging us to believe. Don?t beg. As a branding professional, you should know that it?s not very becoming. Just be.Perhaps USAA doesn?t boast with taglines and mantra statements and ?brand discovery paragraphs? because they don?t need them. Their audience already believes.

1. I?m proud to be in business for 20 years and our experience shows.

2. Can you imagine that he actually believes that a company doesn?t need a tagline (actually he calls it boasting, which a tagline is not)? Tell me, what?s the downfall of Nike?s ?Just do it? or try some of these on for size:

You deserve a break today.

Be all that you can be.

Where’s the beef?

It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.

Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

It’s not just a job? It’s an adventure.?

I bet you know who all of these taglines belong to right? They work.

Would you want to hire a firm like Ivey McCoig who actual take the stance ?if it ain?t broken, don?t fix it? approach?

Next they go on to say:

I have family in Boston and Braintree and Stoneham? and even a few folks just over the border in New Hampshire. None of them have heard of you or your ?branding firm.? Not a single one. I?ve checked (And this includes the second cousin who has proudly, but not beggingly been a marketing professional for more than 20 years). I?m not being negative. I think it?s awesome that you are successful. I think I can speak for many when I say that we are ultra-impressed with your longevity in the biz.

I guess you can read into the sarcasm there huh?

More here:

But USAA is great, because they are great. Just ask the people they serve. They don?t have to capture all the reasons they are great in a sentence that follows their logo or appears over and over on collateral materials, websites and direct mail. They have customers and clients and REAL LIFE HUMAN BEINGS already telling their story for them. They might not have told you yet, but what do you care?If you?re good, just be good. If you?re cool, don?t tell me how cool you are? just be cool. If you?re brilliant, don?t try to make me feel less-smart by reminding me of your SAT scores every time you pass by. JUST BE, and sooner or later we?ll believe.

Listen, if you believe word of mouth marketing will carry a company then why do any marketing at all? As you say, ?just be?. Why does Ivey McCoig even have a website if this is how they feel? If they ?just be? it should happen automatically right?

Er, no. Sorry it doesn?t. You need to be great and you need to COMMUNICATE with your customers and prospects.

Gosh, they?ll just let anyone start up an advertising, design and branding collabrotive dedicated to the creative application of research and imagination.

Wait, doesn?t that sound like a long winded tagline? Maybe it?s one of those ?mantra statements? they hate so much huh?This coming from the agency that copied the Marvin the Martian logo.

Ivy McCoig Logo:

?Marvin The Martian:????

To continue on with my series on ridiculous blog posts from Seth Godin I give you his latest blog post ?You just know?.?Here?s an excerpt:?

The funny thing is that design on the web is almost the opposite. Winning sites on the web almost always have terrible design and terrible logos. Unless I define terrible as ‘not working’. In which case the design is not terrible. In fact, it works so well it now seems to be clear that clunky, engineering-built design might just be the secret to success online.?

Why do people even buy his books? Terrible web design and terrible logo design seems to be the secret to success online? Seriously, taken right from his site.?

This is a guy people refer to as a ?marketing guru?.?

What works is developing a clear brand identity and positioning. It has nothing to do with design. Once that is established then and only then can designing take place. But to say that clunky, engineering sites fare better is just plain ludicrous.??

Personally I think the design should be professional and leverage the brand identity. Here?s an example of what I?m talking about. Say you?re looking to rent a villa in St. Thomas. You go online and these two sites come up.??

http://www.bolongobay.com/? or?

http://www.caretbay.com?

Which site seems more trustworthy? Or more professional? Or more appealing? Don?t judge the sites by price or amenities, just by the way they look and make you feel. Be honest.?

Let me know.?

A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form of pretence or deception.?

I was surfing through the TV stations yesterday and landed on ESPN. I watched 7 minutes of the Roger Clemens debacle. First let me say this. It?s pretty sad that these Congressmen have nothing better to do than ask Roger Clemens what color bikini his nanny was wearing at Jose Canseco?s house. Seriously, that was a question.

Times are tough when?our elected officials want to know what kind of chicken was served at a BBQ. Sad, I?m disgusted by this entire situation. Does anyone really care if Roger Clemens shot up HGH? Not me!

That said Roger Clemens has effectively killed his brand. First it?s almost a certainty that he did inject HGH or Steroids (just an assumption). Instead of just admitting it and asking for forgiveness he?s done a 180. Why would he even go and testify? Has he learned nothing from the Barry Bonds escapade? Bonds may end up in jail over this nonsense.

So now Roger will be deemed a liar and an idiot check this article today. Not sure who Roger is getting his advice from but it?s going to cost him something bigger than HGH and his career?.

His name. ?

The Roger Clemens brand as you knew it is way back, back, back?.gone!

I can?t tell you how much I hated the E-Trade Super Bowl commercials. What was the brand strategy behind the baby? It?s so easy a surfer baby can do it? That?s the brand identity of E-Trade, they?re easy to use?

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Well here?s a news flash. People loose lots of money because they don?t know how to trade stocks correctly. Because you make it easy for them to do so is like giving an alcoholic a drink. Stocks are serious business and a puking baby talking like a ?surfer dude? is not on target. That?s some really pukey branding!

I actually traded futures and commodities on a regular basis. I can tell you this. I won?t even consider E-Trade after those ridiculous spots. Funny? Maybe to some. Stupid and off target, definitely. E-Trade goes right to the branding blunders of 2008!

To continue on with my series on ridiculous blog posts from Seth Godin I give you his latest blog post ?Tribe Management?.?Here?s an excerpt:

Brand management is so 1999.

Brand management was top down, internally focused, political and money based. It involved an MBA managing the brand, the ads, the shelf space, etc. The MBA argued with product development and manufacturing to get decent stuff, and with the CFO to get more cash to spend on ads.

Wow talk about stereotyping. I?ve worked with brand/marketing managers for 20 years now and I can tell you that this is not where it?s at. Just yesterday I spoke with a brand manager about setting up a blog and how they could leverage their brand identity through via internal and external branding strategies.

Let me tell you what brand managers really do and why Seth Godin is a Master Charlatan (in my humble opinion):

1.???? They develop a company?s brand identity, brand promise and brand strategy (still very chic as far as I know?so 2008).

2.???? They implement an internal branding program to get employees involved with the brand so they become brand ambassadors (probably still cool in 2008 as far as I know).

3.???? They choose the best strategies and tactics that obtain the greatest ROI and leverage their brand identity (I?ve personally never sold TV ads as we are a branding company not an ad agency). TV is so dead.

4.???? As far as I know hiring MBA?s is still a good thing. Smart people still count.

5.???? Brand Managers don?t have a predestined way of spending the budget. Maybe ads are the correct way to go or maybe search engine optimization is. They?re smart or at least should be.

The sad thing is Seth Godin doesn?t really know much about branding. He?s a word of mouth marketing guy. Don?t write about subjects that you are clearly misinformed with. Stick to your spiel about permission marketing, that?s not so bad.

Seth Godin is on a book tour right now. He makes money from selling books. Enough said.

A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form of pretence or deception.?

I get a few emails here and there with people that correct my spelling or grammar on our branding blog or website. Or they?re nice enough to catch a typo. One woman was nice enough to spend the time to proof read a majority of our website. She emailed me and said:?

I would never do business with a company that doesn?t know the difference between ?its? and ?it?s?. Apparently I spelled it ?it?s? instead of ?its?. An obvious typo.?

I thanked her for catching a single typo within a 100 page website. In other words, get a life. First, why would anyone spend time with this nonsense? Don?t you have more important stuff to do?

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Are you that anal that you need to criticize someone over a typo? Is life that boring? If so guess what? We don?t want to work with you. We are passionate people that are creative and have fun with our work. We have relationships with our clients that REQUIRE a sense of humor.??

Lighten up folks, ya only live once.

Starbucks lowers its price to compete with McDonald?s.

You can now get a cup of commodity coffee at Starbucks for $1.00. Starbucks Chairman Howard “I know nothing“?Schultz now wins the award for the biggest branding blunder of 2008.?

Goodbye Starbucks brand, nice knowing you!

I?ve read Seth Godin?s blog from time to time. The Word of Mouth Marketing folks kneel at his feet. I think a lot of his ideas are really great. Some I definitely have issues with. Here?s one I don?t get??

Seth talks about permission marketing, a lot. He?s done some trailblazing in this subject. Of course make no bones about it it?s to sell his books. That?s cool, it?s all about sales. Kudos to Seth for differentiating and building a strong brand identity. In our opinion that?s what it?s all about.?

But have you been too his blog? Sure the articles are on topic and he?s got a ton of readers. But try and comment. Sorry, Seth doesn?t allow comments. Why? So I emailed him. This is the response I received (it was obviously cut and pasted):?

Scott ?

Thanks for your note about comments. I’m delighted that you’re interested in my blog, and commend you to:??http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/06/why_i_dont_have.html for my post on this topic.?

seth godinsethgodin@yahoo.com?

So I visited that page. Here are some excerpts:?

?I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning?.?

Why? It?s you blog Seth. I don?t answer every comment or clarify how I feel. You?re a big boy now don?t be such a coward. The real deal is you don?t want people disagreeing with you. That may hurt book sales. Isn?t that all part of permission marketing though? If I sign up for your blog shouldn?t you want and care to ?converse? with me? Having a conversation with a reader (insert book buyer) is pretty important I think.?

?Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them?.?

Well at least your honest about it. And that?s good, but c?mon are your readers that burdensome? Make time for those that are dedicated to reading your blog. They are of course your customers and prospects.?

And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.?

Huh? What? Are you for real on that comment? I love how he says ?and most importantly for you?, nice turnaround. If you believe this I got a bridge to sell you. That?s a load of crap IMHO.?

So I emailed him back and said I thought it was cowardly by removing comments. Here is his response:?

Proud to be a coward ?

if you want your money back from my blog, send me your address and I’ll send you a refund. ?

but hypocritical? I don’t think so. Permission marketing has nothing at all to do with comments. It has to do with delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to the people who want to get them. If I was spamming folks, then you could call me a hypocrite.?

There’s certainly a school of thought that says blogs MUST have comments. I’m a lot more catholic than that.?

Well you can insert sarcasm into a few spots huh? Look I?m cool with doing your own thing. But if I take the time as a reader to ask permission for your blog articles then you Seth Godin should care and take the time with me. ?

That?s just my opinion. I think Seth Godin is doing a fine job of talking out of both sides of his mouth. I?m sure book sales are up, congrats!?

It?s Monday morning and I?m enjoying a cup of Joe and ESPN. Then my morning is torn from me with one TV commercial??

Hewlet Packard (HP) has decided in their great wisdom to get in the logo and web design market. Yup, you can now have HP design a new logo for you. You know HP, the maker of printers and such. Now they are branding, web and logo designers.?

Sorry, I just threw up my cup of Joe. What the *@&* is HP doing extending their brand into the logo and web design world? Are they crazy? Nuts? On crack??

How many of these big companies have to learn the hard lesson that you can?t be everything to everyone. Do they think that because they sell printers that they should now be graphic and web designers? ?

And of course HP has priced their ?design? services from $99 and up. Lots of strategic value in there I?m sure. ?

Damn, now I have to go make a new cup of Joe. Thanks HP, you morons!

Gosh I really can?t stand it when these righteous word of mouth companies get up on their soap box telling the world that WOMM (word of mouth marketing) is the best thing since sliced bread. Some of the guys really know what the heck their talking about but others drive me nuts. ?

Enter Brains On Fire newest blog entry. Spike Jones once again gets on his WOM high horse (he?s apparently the self proclaimed master of WOM) and rambles on about a company breaking Ogilvy?s Blogger Outreach Code of Ethics. Though Ogilvy did a fine job of inventing these ethics they?re certainly not a rule. At least I didn?t get the official word on rules. They?re nice ideas but not rules. Who the hell is Spike Jones to slam a company over these ?rules?? There are no rules. Do whatever you want for God?s sake. If it doesn?t work then you may want to try a different approach. But these are not, repeat, not official rules.?

Personally I like most of these suggestions and recommend them. Spike Jones is a wanna be sales weasel at best. If you read his?blog regularly you?ll notice it?s a lot of regurgitated stuff from other WOM guys (guys that know what their talking about). Personally I?d recommend Jonathan Salem Baskin http://dimbulb.typepad.com/ or John Moore http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/. ?They?re always doing great stuff and as far as I know neither of them have claimed to be the WOM expert like Spike Jones.?

Listen, WOM is a great marketing tactic without doubt. But there is no ?best? tactic. A multi-tiered branding program is still the way to go. You mix in some social media, search engine optimization, internet marketing etc. etc. Heavens forbid I say Direct Mail or Print Advertising. Gosh that would really send poor old Spike off his rocker. I might get hit by the WOMM Police. What?s the going rate on a ticket for breaking Spike?s make believe rules??

Remember to always leverage your brand identity. That?s the real key. Don?t do anything without asking yourself ?how will this impact my brand identity???

And to Spike Jones, please let Ivey & McCoig know that I appreciated Their Christmas Card. Marvin the Martian Rocks!

So we purchase advertising on some branding blogs that we like and feel will work for us. We?ve been buying some advertising on Small Business Branding for a while now.??

Recently Google updated its PageRank and Small Business Branding went from a 6 to a 3.? Yaro Starak, I believe is the owner, emailed me to let me know that the price would go down to reflect this. He asked me if I would like to remain a loyal customer at the lower rate.? I agreed and remained a customer.

A week later I received a bill from Yaro that reflected the original higher priced bill. I emailed Yaro and asked him why. He told me it was a mistake and that I would receive the lower rate as promised by Small Business Branding.? Fast forward three days and I receive this email from Yaro Starak at Small Business Branding:?

Hi Scott,?

Since I lowered the price to $100 I’ve been hit with a lot of ad buyers again so I’m raising the price back to $150.?

If you don’t want to pay that price I understand, just let me know whether you want to cancel or keep your campaign active at $150.?

Cheers,?

Yaro

yazzas@gmail.com?

Wow, how unbelievably slimy is that? When times are looking dim he calls on his clients and offers them a lower rate so as to not lose clients. We agree and then within two weeks time things get better and Yaro re-raises the price?? This from a branding blog? Hey Yaro?that?s how you do business?

This is a dumb, greedy move. First and foremost you?re being dishonest and distrustful. This is the ultimate sin for anyone in branding. This is a brand killer.

Maybe you should take some advise from the people who write for you. Ask Ed Roach how he would have handled this.?Secondly your blog gives information on how to properly do business and brand. Is this the example you set?

We branding guys all know each other. It?s a small branding universe. And I?m one of the shit stirring loud mouths.?You?ve made a mistake. But you can recover. Send out a letter or email to any clients that you did this to and apologize. Tell them that YOU value them and this was a temporary lapse in judgement.?

Be a man an honor your word, or as we call it in the branding business, your promise! As a follow-up Yaro emailed me this:?

I usually bump the price every 6-12 months if the site’s traffic has increased during that time. So I don’t change it that frequently.?

The recent changes with PageRank prompted the price reduction, but since it hasn’t impacted demand I’m restoring the price back to what it was.? This is obviously an unusual situation.?

Yaro Yea Yaro, unusually bad Small Business Branding!

Update: Yaro cancelled our ads all together without the decency of even a notification. I guess he didn’t like someone pointing out his business methods. Sad, that a blog about branding would act this way.

Amy Winehouse kicked off her 17-date tour with a shambolic performance that saw fuming fans booing and marching out, reports said Thursday.?See the article here.

How sad is this story. We all?like the ?rock star? persona but this takes the cake. Imagine going into your job drunk and on drugs (allegedly). Then calling your very best clients, the clients that?you call “evangelists” on the phone and then saying:?

“Let me tell you something. First of all, if you’re booing, you’re a mug for buying a ticket.??

“Second, to all those booing, just wait till my husband gets out of incarceration — and I mean that.”

The Birmingham Mail newspaper’s music critic Andy Coleman said it was “one of the saddest nights of my life”.?

“I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience,” he wrote.?

Hey Amy, you won?t have to worry about your rock star brand persona anymore, cause you?ve officially ended that.

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