大都會人壽不再使用史努比作爲廣告吉祥物
The news came like a blindside burst of machine gun fire from the evil Red Baron: Snoopy, the *plucky *beagle and a star of the Peanuts comic strip, has been shot down: Insurance giant MetLife has eliminated Snoopy as its advertising mascot.
這則消息就像邪惡的紅男爵突射機關槍一樣出其不意：史努比，那個勇敢的小獵犬，同時也是連載動漫《花生》中的明星被“擊落”了——保險業巨頭大都會人壽不再使用史努比作爲廣告吉祥物。
“We brought in Snoopy over 30 years ago to make our company more friendly and *approachable during a time when insurance companies were seen as cold and distant,” says Esther Lee, MetLife’s global chief marketing officer.
大都會人壽全球首席營銷官艾斯特.李表示：“30多年前，我們引入史努比，是想在一個保險公司被視作冷酷無情的時期，使我們的公司看起來更加友善和親切。”
And now, the giant insurer is seen as and *fuzzy?
那現在呢，這個保險業巨頭就看起來……溫暖可親了嗎？
We don’t think so. Certainly not after *strafing Snoopy.
我們不這樣認爲，尤其是史努比被“打入冷宮”後。
Nevertheless, we won’t second guess MetLife. The company is launching a new global branding effort and plans to focus more on corporate clients. So Snoopy *spirals to the ground.
儘管如此，我們不會去事後評價大都會人壽。這家公司正在啓動新的全球品牌化策略，希望更關注企業客戶。所以史努比就被“掃地出門”了。
In the ad world, this is business as usual. Heck, in any business this is the way things work.
在廣告世界裏，這是再正常不過的事。而且說到底，這也是任何一個行業的運行之道。
You produce desired results or, in Snoopy’s case, you wind up in the doghouse. MetLife found that while people considered the Peanuts gang friendly and approachable, the cartoon characters didn’t summon images of leadership and responsibility, The New York Times reports. Snoopy, with his vivid fantasy life as a World War I pilot, didn’t resonate in the way that MetLife would hope: In other words, Snoopy apparently didn’t chase consumers into insurance offices.
你要麼得以實現你想要的結果，要麼，在史努比的案例中…最後進了狗窩。據《紐約時報》報道，大都會人壽發現，儘管人們認爲《花生》漫畫裏的人物是友好的、平易近人的，這些卡通人物並不能喚起一種領導感和責任感。史努比和它在第一次世界大戰王牌飛行員生動的奇幻生活，無法與大都會人壽所期望的形象產生共鳴：換句話說，史努比顯然沒有驅使消費者參與到保險業務中去。
So Snoopy takes his place in the unemployment line with other famous-brand mascots of yesteryear–obsolete characters such as Bucky Beaver of Ipana toothpaste fame.
因此，史努比就加入到了昔日風光無限的品牌吉祥物的失業隊伍中——那些已遭淘汰的形象，比如Ipana牙膏的巴奇海狸。
We *shudder to think who could be next. There are so many icons peering out from cereal boxes, *detergents and other household staples.
我們不禁要打一個冷顫，想想誰會成爲下一個呢？還有很多卡通形象正從麥片盒、洗滌劑和其他家庭生活用品的包裝上瞟眼看着呢。
Some characters, of course, have second acts. For instance: Hipster Charlie the Tuna, forever disappointed that he wouldn’t be allowed in a StarKist tuna can. “Sorry, Charlie. StarKist doesn’t want tunas with good taste; StarKist wants tunas that taste good.” After a deep-sea hiatus, Charlie came out of retirement in 1999 and thrives again.
當然，也有一些卡通形象迎來了“第二春”。比如，嬉皮士金槍魚查理永遠都對自己無法出現在星基斯特（StarKist）金槍魚罐頭包裝上感到失望。“抱歉了，查理。星基斯特不想要品味不錯的金槍魚；星基斯特想要味道不錯的金槍魚。”在經歷了一段“深海退休生活”後，查理在1999年復出，並一直活躍至今。
The problem isn’t always flagging sales or a character out of tune with the times. McDonald’s announced recently that it has temporarily sidelined Ronald, after a series of so-called “creepy clown” sightings across the country.
問題也不總是與下滑的銷量或過時的形象有關。麥當勞近期就宣佈，在最近發生了一系列席捲全國的所謂“小丑恐慌”後，他們暫時把麥當勞叔叔收了起來。
Question: If Ronald stays disappeared, will enough people care? We may find out.
問題是：如果麥當勞叔叔永遠消失，會有更多人在意嗎？我們可以拭目以待。
When you stroll down the grocery aisle, glance at the faces peering out from bottles, cans and cartons: Aunt Jemima. The Pillsbury Doughboy. Elsie the Cow. The Brawny Lumberjack. Tip your hat to them and all the others. They’ve survived generation after generation, thanks to you.
當你在貨架前閒逛時，留意一下那些從玻璃瓶、罐頭盒和紙盒上出現的面孔：傑邁瑪阿姨、麪糰寶寶、奶牛埃爾希和強壯伐木工。請向他們以及其他形象致敬吧。託你的福，他們得以一代代地倖存下來。
