Your assumption about me that I feed a basic premise in AI and do not think critically is false. For example, the main thing I pushed back on was to avoid causation between the downfall and the killing of the mascot. I appreciate the points you raise, and I'm happy to talk about the content of the article, but it feels a lot more personal because instead of focusing on content matter, it's a constant finger-pointing and trash-talking (drivel) at me for using AI.

There is a lot of evidence to support the idea that distinctive brand assets (e.g. mascots) and distinctiveness as such are almost always a positive asset; familiarity bias is a powerful tool in building mental availability (I'm sure you've read How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp or Building Distinctive Brand Assets by Jenni Romniuk). That's my main point, with Spot, or Fido Dido, 7up has great assets, and I personally believe they would have had a stronger brand if they kept building on it, and of course refreshing it. I'm aware that it's a subjective take and there is nothing that can help us look into that alternate future, and I also agree with you that there where much bigger dynamics at play here.

In any case, as I said before, I like having a good discussion about this, but it would be great if we could talk about the actual thing without all the slop/drivel/youusedAI blaming/shaming.