From the moment I touched down in Bangkok, I have been fascinated with brand identity here in Asia. I really just don’t get it. It started when I hopped in a cab for the Grand Palace and saw a billboard for Sony. It was simple a very large Sony logo. That was it.

Last weekend while in Kandy, just having recovered from my massage, I was walking down Dalada Vidiya when I heard a familiar sound that tickled at my memory of a distant past. I followed the music around the corner from the bookstore where I had just discovered LT, the Colombo expat guide to life, and the solution to the Sri Lankan plague of obesity, Atkins for Life. There source of the music was a Food City grocery store and a KFC (joined from the inside, of course). The music? The Backstreet Boys, of course. I couldn’t help but laugh, but was able to restrain myself from busting a move. Ice-cream cones, however, are 15 cents, so me and my dehydrated self waltzed through the front door.

Inside the front door was a small but over commercialized booth behind which a DJ was mixing my high-school memories. As I walked through the store trying to find some cold bottled water, I noticed sales people engaging customers, and passing out samples. I didn’t spend too much time looking, but did notice that their hats were all en-blazed with the logo “Prima!”

Water purchased, and Ice cream in hand, I sank into an air-conditioned seat, grateful for the temporary reprieve. It was only then that I glanced at the DJ’s booth again. The “Prima!” logo large over his head, I couldn’t avoid the shock at the text below: “Softer, creamier butter!”

All around the store were workers for the promotion passing out samples of butter in small paper cups. The Food City customers took the samples graciously, tasting them thoughtfully, and smiling with approval. As if a promotion for butter wasn’t bizarre enough, there wasn’t a cracker in sight.