Sideswipe: January 3: Fake it till you make it

The long and short of it.

Pitching Star Trek

The original pitch for the TV series Star Trek in 1964 envisions the starship the SS Yorktown visiting the possibly three million planets that contain intelligent life similar to ours. The key to this concept is that a tiny fraction of such planets would have an evolution similar to our own, with just enough differences to make an interesting story. Examples include a world that has already been devastated by nuclear war, another in which women keep men as pets, one that is going through the medieval era and one where the real intelligent beings are cows ... or a straight-up alien world. And the characters? Well, Mr Spock was named “Mr Spook”, had red skin and was described as rather satanic-looking. The ship’s navigator was a South American named José Ortegas. The second in command was an emotionless woman.

Nifty idea – SUV tent

Car camping.

More than 6ft tall and wide, this tent attaches to your vehicle and folds into a tiny 3ft carrying case to snuggle into any roof rack, boot or trailer. (Igloo Essentials SUV Tent)

Branding can create a cult

The tagline for Liquid Death, a canned water brand, is murder your thirst. And it has quite a Gen Z following. According to bonappetit.com: “Since the brand’s first sold can in 2019, more than 225,000 people have “legally sold their souls” to the Liquid Death Country Club, a membership programme that allows patrons early access to merch drops and live events, according to a spokesperson for the company. Others have gone so far as to tattoo the brand logo on their body, making a reality out of what I can only assume has been every CMO’s dream for the past decade. Liquid Death is the third best-selling carbonated water brand on Amazon and its most recent round of funding has bolstered the company’s valuation to a staggering $700 million.”