{"version":"1.0","type":"stack","id":"49f0c8d0-cee7-47fb-97f4-6a9efc9b3e90","url":"https://stacklist.com/stack/49f0c8d0-cee7-47fb-97f4-6a9efc9b3e90","title":"Take #16: Be Silly! Be Original","description":"Serious brands are allowed to be silly.\n\nSome of the smartest clients I’ve worked with know when to loosen their grip. Fun, weird, cheesy, experimental, whatever actually fits the brand.\nGiving people room to play with you can create a lot more love than trying to control every interpretation.\nWhat brand has earned the right to be a little ridiculous?\n\n@The Many\nTake 016 / The Many Takes\n#TheManyT","privacy":"public","created_at":"2026-10-23T12:42:54.800Z","updated_at":"2026-10-23T14:33:35.235Z","author":{"username":"the-many-admin","name":"The Many","url":"https://stacklist.com/the-many-admin","type":"person"},"category":null,"items":[{"id":"6b56ef86-0e51-483b-9580-e800fc099ed4","position":1,"title":"Take #16: Be Silly! Be Original","url":null,"note":"The speaker reflects on past work with Taco Bell, noting that despite its multi-billion dollar status, their product is inherently fun, cheesy, melty, and gooey, which allowed for more experimental and silly marketing. This experience taught them that the bravest and smartest clients understand people create their own stories with a product, embracing a less serious approach.","image":{"url":"https://ucarecdn.com/b097ba9e-a899-4aae-955f-228efa80a038/","alt":"Take #16: Be Silly! Be Original","width":1200,"height":630},"direct_link":"https://stacklist.com/card/6b56ef86-0e51-483b-9580-e800fc099ed4","created_at":"2026-10-23T12:43:27.842Z","updated_at":null,"aco":{"summary":"Jeremiah Wassom discusses how Taco Bell's non-serious product positioning enabled creative freedom and experimental marketing work. He emphasizes that smart brands understand consumers create their own stories around products, allowing for playful and authentic engagement.","tags":["taco-bell","advertising","brand-strategy","creativity","product-marketing","storytelling","consumer-engagement"],"key_entities":[{"name":"Jeremiah Wassom","type":"person","confidence":0.95},{"name":"Taco Bell","type":"organization","confidence":0.98},{"name":"brand storytelling","type":"concept","confidence":0.85},{"name":"product positioning","type":"concept","confidence":0.82}],"classification":"video","language":"en","confidence":0.85,"provenance":{"model":"claude-haiku-4-5","tool":"@stacklist/be@0.1.0","confidence":0.85,"timestamp":"2026-10-23T12:44:08.457Z"},"token_counts":{"approximate":142,"cl100k":125},"content_hash":null,"acp_version":"0.2","body_available":true,"body_tokens":142,"visibility":"public","agent_accessible":true,"status":"final"}},{"id":"d3984fda-1cca-4356-b894-635cb1d60a72","position":2,"title":"Serious Brands Are Allowed to Be Silly: Lessons From Taco Bell","url":null,"note":"Jeremiah Wassom on why the bravest and smartest clients loosen their grip and let people play with their brand.","image":null,"direct_link":"https://stacklist.com/card/d3984fda-1cca-4356-b894-635cb1d60a72","created_at":"2026-10-23T12:47:22.236Z","updated_at":null,"aco":{"summary":"Serious Brands Are Allowed to Be Silly explores how Taco Bell's marketing success comes from matching brand tone to product truth rather than forcing false seriousness. The key insight is that brands should embrace their authentic character, give audiences room to co-create stories, and understand that playfulness builds more affection than tight control.","tags":["brand-marketing","taco-bell","creative-strategy","tone-of-voice","audience-engagement","product-positioning","brand-authenticity"],"key_entities":[{"name":"Taco Bell","type":"organization","confidence":0.99},{"name":"Jeremiah Wassom","type":"person","confidence":0.95},{"name":"brand-authenticity","type":"concept","confidence":0.92},{"name":"audience-engagement","type":"concept","confidence":0.88},{"name":"creative-tone","type":"concept","confidence":0.85}],"classification":"analysis","language":"en","confidence":0.85,"provenance":{"model":"claude-haiku-4-5","tool":"@stacklist/be@0.1.0","confidence":0.85,"timestamp":"2026-10-23T12:47:27.896Z"},"token_counts":{"approximate":714,"cl100k":583},"content_hash":"sha256:49018cb2732d9760b00f20db9b5a11665f21c76318a2d1e6b7e8deb7b93d56c7","acp_version":"0.2","body_available":true,"body_tokens":714,"visibility":"public","agent_accessible":true,"status":"final"}},{"id":"23fba982-aea6-4a1e-9405-e385e02fa4f9","position":3,"title":"Jeremiah Wassom - The Many | LinkedIn","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwassom/","note":"Jeremiah Wassom is a 20-year creative professional with experience in agency, freelance, and brand-side roles. Based in Los Angeles, he is passionate about his work and has built a network of over 500 connections on LinkedIn.","image":{"url":"https://ucarecdn.com/2f14e8e1-34ea-4b78-b5bd-c8d894444bb6/","alt":"Jeremiah Wassom - The Many | LinkedIn","width":800,"height":800},"direct_link":"https://stacklist.com/card/23fba982-aea6-4a1e-9405-e385e02fa4f9","created_at":"2026-10-23T15:42:23.938Z","updated_at":null},{"id":"16e1f5c3-aab9-4502-839b-15c601c91591","position":4,"title":"The Many — The Participation Company™","url":"https://themany.com","note":"The Many is a company focused on active participation in various fields, emphasizing engagement over passivity. They strive to create impactful experiences that encourage collaboration and involvement.","image":{"url":"https://ucarecdn.com/3f558d85-f6e7-4192-b672-7e437c638ed8/","alt":"The Many — The Participation Company™","width":1280,"height":800},"direct_link":"https://stacklist.com/card/16e1f5c3-aab9-4502-839b-15c601c91591","created_at":"2026-10-14T18:55:11.787Z","updated_at":null,"aco":{"summary":"The Many is a participation company with the tagline \"We Don't Do Passive.\" The organization emphasizes active engagement and participation as core to its business model and brand identity.","tags":["participation","company","engagement","active-participation","branding"],"key_entities":[{"name":"The Many","type":"organization","confidence":0.95},{"name":"Participation","type":"concept","confidence":0.9},{"name":"Active Engagement","type":"concept","confidence":0.85}],"classification":"reference","language":"en","confidence":0.85,"provenance":{"model":"claude-haiku-4-5","tool":"@stacklist/mcp-server@2.0.0","confidence":0.85,"timestamp":"2026-09-22T22:45:55.342Z"},"token_counts":{"approximate":24,"cl100k":27},"content_hash":"sha256:d8d89580e6f64fc12917af97924444cfae7f4d3a24635968caa90a4f78c306fc","acp_version":"0.2","body_available":true,"body_tokens":24,"visibility":"public","agent_accessible":true,"status":"final"}}],"stats":{"likes_count":0,"items_count":4},"_links":{"self":"/api/public/stack/49f0c8d0-cee7-47fb-97f4-6a9efc9b3e90.json","html":"https://stacklist.com/stack/49f0c8d0-cee7-47fb-97f4-6a9efc9b3e90","rss":"/api/feeds/stack/49f0c8d0-cee7-47fb-97f4-6a9efc9b3e90/rss","json_feed":"/api/feeds/stack/49f0c8d0-cee7-47fb-97f4-6a9efc9b3e90/json"}}