The Dead Speaks

Okay, I know it's legit and all, but who else is creeped out by getting emails from Circuit City again?

Right here on The BeanCast blog and during an episode of our marketing podcast we mourned their passing. We said RIP. We buried them. We even used a tomb-stone image on a post. And now suddenly, here's this email from a company that I know is dead.

It's a like a zombie game or one of those creepy body swap movies! I hate zombies!

A strong case can be made for using an established brand as instant credibility and I certainly don't fault the new owners for taking advantage of it. But this whole experience is making me hyper aware of the pitfalls associated with such a move. How do you ease the fears of brand loyalists that you are somehow a charlatan? How do you leverage the brand power without being weighed down by the bankruptcy baggage? Do you even worry about any of it and just consider acceptable collateral damage? Interesting questions to consider.