Vrijdagmiddagberichten

- New research from the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that we pick certain brand names for an entirely narcissistic reason – because they contain letters of the alphabet that are in our own name. The theory is an extension of the 'name letter effect,' which has demonstrated that people indeed like the letters in their name more so than others letters. The current research extends this phenomenon to consumerism and defines 'name letter branding,' which shows a connection between a consumer's name and the brands one chooses. Lees hier meer.

- Lego AS, whose shiny plastic bricks are a toy-box staple all over the world, can no longer shield them from rivals, Canada's Supreme Court said in a ruling that favors Montreal-based Mega Bloks Inc., which markets a knock-off. Lees hier meer.

- Talpa baas John de Mol moet dit voorjaar voor de rechter verschijnen om te vertellen hoe hij het TV Format Expedition Robinson heeft weggekaapt voor de neus van Net5. Ook presentator Ernst-Paul Hasselbach moet zijn rol komen toelichten. Volgens de door Talpa verguisde SBS/Net5 advocaat Joris van Manen heeft de rechtbank in Amsterdam toestemming gegeven om zes getuigen onder ede te horen. Lees hier meer.

- Sony was forced to recall 4.7 million CDs this month because the copyright-protection software embedded on the discs left computers prone to hacker attacks. What do you think? hier.