We are often more certain than the evidence really allows.
More quotesWhy the bear?
Because people remember the bear.
Yes, but which product pillar does it communicate?
The bear pillar.
Advertising becomes very silly when clever adults demand that every ingredient produce the same rational argument. A northern setting can give bread warmth. A fictional character can make insurance recognisable. A peculiar sound can lodge in memory for twenty years without once explaining a feature. Human communication has always carried mood, rhythm, status, humour and association alongside facts. Brands did not invent ambiguity; they merely hired compliance to suffocate it.
There are factual promises that must stand up. Price, safety, performance and origin deserve evidence. Fine. Draw those boundaries in thick ink. The trouble begins when the same evidential burden is placed on a colour, joke, animal or accent, as though symbolism were a junior barrister.
Under that regime, every unusual choice is asked to justify itself until it becomes usual. The accordion is removed. The dog looks “off strategy”. Blue tests two points below approved teal. Eventually the advert is perfectly aligned and spiritually deceased.
Consistency can build recognition. It can also become an alibi for repeating one safe thought until even the people paying for it stop listening. A memorable brand feels like a place with recognisable laws and room for surprise, not a laminated list of permitted sentences. Keep the promises true. Let the bear remain mysteriously employed.