I can’t say I understand it when major brands choose to represent themselves as logos on Twitter.  Case in point is Sharpie.  For the past couple of years I have been a huge fan of Sharpie Susan, the twitter persona of the Sharpie brand.  Sharpie Susan was spunky and quirky, occasionally noisy, at times unpredictable, but definitely fun.  She not only talked about which rock stars were using customized Sharpies but occasionally chimed in on what her daughters were up to.

Yesterday I noticed she was gone.  The account had been replaced by a Sharpie logo and the name changed simply to ‘Sharpie’.  When I inquired I received back a tweet informing me “I’m just Sharpie now, like Cher or Madonna.”  I thought to myself, “that was supposed to be cute but it really wasn’t.”

Give me Sharpie Susan.  I don’t talk to no stinkin’ logo.

I understand that none of this is health related but it’s a small lesson in how this all works.  Ultimately this social stuff comes down to human-to-human dialog.  Sure there’s risk when an individual represents a brand.  We all know that.  The human element is unpredictable.

Logo avatars on the other hand are safe and clean.  Sterile.  They also happen to be worthless when it comes to the conversation I seek.

If you want me to listen, give me someone I can talk to.

What say you?