Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

In terms of design, modern brands seem to be embracing minimalism—a sort of less is more approach. Aside from bolder colors, there’s an overwhelming trend towards cleaner lines and fewer accoutrements. In fact, a comparison of the current corporate logos of 20 top companies with their originals is like a study of apples to oranges. Actually, apple to apple for one gadget giant.

One logo bound to cause controversy (because that’s what design critics do) is that of Rio 2016. Have a peek at the making of the logo:

But before we look to the next Summer Games, there’s still a bit of drama from London. Sadly, it’s not something that can be worked out easily over breakfast. That’s because breakfast is the problem. Reports NYSportsJournalism.com, Kellogg’s and General Mills are going head-to-head, even pitting teammates against one another on rival cereal boxes.

Of course, the cereal aisle wars extend beyond just putting athletes on a box. As more countries have taken a liking to American-style breakfasts, companies like Quaker have entered into a cereal marketer’s race for brand dominance abroad.

Back in the States, there’s a war on Lauren Conrad. The formers “Hills” reality starlet was a target of the literary world, though not for her (poorly written) novels. Instead, it was for a video of her crafting a DIY project in which she destroyed numerous books to make so-called storage spaces. Lemony Snicket, the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler and whose book was mangled on video, responded by saying: “It has always been my belief that people who spend too much time with my work end up as lost souls, drained of reason, who lead lives of raving emptiness and occasional lunatic violence. What a relief it is to see this documented.”

From Lemony Snicket to “Timothy Green,” enjoy the priceless reaction of two youngsters distraught by Disney’s recently released film. Examiner.com’s Michael Santo masterfully equates their reaction to that of Phoebe Buffet’s (Lisa Kudrow’s character on “Friends”) after she finally sees "Old Yeller” in its entirety. (SPOILER ALERT)



Those hysterical reactions may have been less endearingly funny if the youngsters let any four-letter words fly. As for the word six-letter word “asshole,” however, The Daily Beast explores the beauty behind its “indispensable vulgarity.”

The word “hell” isn’t anywhere near as offensive, yet one Oklahoma High School valedictorian has not received her diploma after using it her graduation speech.

“Hell” would be among the mild vulgarities uttered if I ever encountered a shark in the wild. Meanwhile, the sea creatures have become pop culture phenomenon thanks Discovery’s “Shark Week.” So how did it go rogue, exactly? Advertising Age has the answer.

I would have bet that it went rogue around the creation of this autotune remix from melodysheep (a.k.a. John D. Boswell, musician and producer behind the Symphony of Science).



Then again, perhaps Tracy Morgan had something to do with. Just check out his awesomely absurd at-home shark tank.



Given their apparent popularity, I’m surprised to see that “lack of sharks” isn’t listed as one of Inc. magazine’s determinants in whether or not your content sucks.

But in Eclectic Method’s humble opinion (and mine), you can never have too much of Bill Murray.



Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

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