In the beginning, branding was a substitute for human interaction: the containers had cartoon representations of the people who used to sell those items directly. That way, you wouldn’t feel as bad when you broke the heart of the real freaky green leaf-man who sold you vegetables at the farmer’s market.

Once that was a comfortable betrayal, brands became less attached to their actual product/producers. Increasing the ubiquity of your brand was the only way to run a business for most of the 80s and 90s. It’s often said that branding began to die at some point in the mid to late 90s, but watching advertising today, you’d never know it. Starburst, Skittles, Burger King, Pepsi, and more have given up not only on actually describing their product but also on making you associate their brand with positive feelings.

Where does this all lead? Well, I submit Meredith Scardino and Dave Hill’s Another Spec Ad as a damn good guess.