"I still don't think I understand the justification for the different smiles," Montgomery says. "I don't know that is something that is even understandable. . . . It does make the design business look a little bit ridiculous and expensive."
Succinctly, then, Arnell Group has outsmarted itself, plumbing the depths of Western genius to come up with a Big Idea that is ultimately very dumb. Why? Think about it. What is the operative metaphor of Pepsi? Pepsi is that which Coca-Cola is not. Coke is majestically, eternally red; therefore Pepsi has been obliged, over the decades, to acquire an ever-deeper shade of blue. Coke's is a brand mark out of time, a living Smithsonian exhibit. Pepsi is required to be perpetually young, generational and ephemeral (this is actually the fourth logo design for Pepsi since 1991).
