Here’s a terrific example of a company spotting and seizing an opportunity.

No need to make a big deal of it, because if it works it ends up making a big deal of itself. And that’s exactly what’s happening. Lost fans are out there constantly looking for clues about what’s going on in and with the show. Connect with something like that in an interesting way and someone’s going to find you — and then they’re going to spread the word for you.

It’s all about moving fast, creating on the fly and identifying the little things that add up to success. That’s the way you do viral marketing strategy that works.

Wait a minute. There are Snuggie pub crawls? That’s a thing? Actually, apparently, it’s a pretty big thing.

This Snuggie phenomenon, which apparently won’t quite, just proves three things: A product doesn’t need to be good to be a hit; with TV spots, as with everything else, sometimes bad is good; and, oh yeah, fun sells (have we mentioned this before?)

Two reasons to go back and read Saturday’s Boston Globe story about foosball

One is the mention of Pabst Blue Ribbon, which just keeps on being all kinds of cool.

The other, the bigger one, is that the story makes the point once again that fun sells. There’s nothing fancy about foosball. But, like ping pong and pool, foosball is enduringly popular. And the reasons for that are simple: Give people an excuse to get together, blow off some steam and enjoy themselves and you win. Works every single time.

Say what you like about Simon Cowell, the man knew Larry Platt has a surefire home-made hit on his hands the second he heard “Pants on the Ground.” General Larry and his song are showing up everywhere right now. And it’s only just beginning. Come December, they’ll still be talking about how a 62-year-old American Idol auditioner came up with the song of the year. Here are a few renditions:

The Original — General Larry

The Minnesota Vikings featuring Brett Favre

Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young

OK, yeah, we really need to cut it out with the parade of obit links (it’s getting depressing around here), but here’s one that requires a mention. Donald Goerke, the guy behind SpaghettiOs, died yesterday. That’s not a food-related passing. It’s a product development and branding-related passing. Because, let’s face it, while pretty much everybody’s eaten them (some of us have eaten them a lot) and just about everyone has fond memories associated with them, it’s unlikely anyone has held up SpaghettiOs as a culinary triumph. They weren’t in 1965. And they aren’t now.

SpaghettiOs weren’t created to be a fine food. They were created to be easy for moms and appealing to kids. That’s why Goerke, then marketing manager for Campbell’s Franco-American brand, was given the task of overseeing development of the new product. The fact that SpaghettiOs hit big right away and remain a success (to the tune of 150 million cans a year) after 45 years, is a tribute to Goerke’s understanding of his market.

Goerke knew exactly what kind of product his team was charged with developing. He knew the sell was going to be about convenience – but more than anything it was going to be about brand. And he nailed it, right down to commissioning an unforgettably simple jingle.

Goerke led the way on the development of more than 100 new products for Campbell’s over his 35 years with the company, including the Chunky soup line, but he’s known as the “Daddy-O of SpaghettiOs” for a good reason. Here’s a little tribute to a his genius.

So long, Teddy. We’ll never, never know a better R&B voice than yours.

Here’s a worthwhile read from yesterday’s New York Times that looks at one digital culture/internet pioneer who’s reconsidering his beliefs about the impacts of free and open sharing of information and, moreover, of creative works. As it turns out, opening up free access to music, written work and other forms of expression hasn’t produced a digitally driven renaissance but, in many cases, has stifled creativity.

The internet’s ability to rob creative people of the ability to make a living from their work combined with its encouragement of anonymity-fueled mob mentality, which always results in mediocrity, has led to a culture freeze, the effects of which are only beginning to be felt.

Who’da thunk it? Seriously.

Since the internet never threatened to make food, clothing, housing, heat – any the things we actually need to sustain ourselves – available for free, didn’t it always stand to reason that people who couldn’t earn money writing, making music and creating visual art, would invariably give up and turn to other pursuits? What choice do they have?

You get the culture you make. And until we start to value creative over cheap, we’re going to continue to make our culture ever less interesting.

Art Clokey, who died last week at age 88, didn’t create stop-motion animation, but he did a whole lot to advance the art form. Clokey created TV’s first and still most famous and most enduring stop-motion character, Gumby. And through TV, Clokey and Gumby (and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Clokey’s other TV creation, Davey and Goliath) made stop-motion fans of a generation. That means that whether you’re a fan of Clokey’s pliable emerald hero or of later creations like Robot Chicken, Wallace & Gromit and Coraline, you really ought to take a minute to remember Clokey and celebrate his legacy. Here’s some stuff to watch in salute to a great innovator.

Hey, we didn’t say it, Motor Trend did: One of the reasons for the stunning sales of Subarus in 2009, a year when the auto industry overall took a major hit, is the company’s ad campaign.

Yeah, Subaru makes a great product. But so does Toyota. So does BMW. The difference comes from not being afraid to, you know, be different.

Look, we’re taking credit one way or the other, but we’ll be up front and tell you that accurately calling the comeback of the jingle didn’t exactly require a functioning crystal ball.

Yes, the jingle was widely considered dead just a few years ago, because pop songs had taken over the advertising landscape. But we knew it was destined to come back, simply because there’s no denying that a well-crafted jingle works. It’s good to see companies like Subway and McDonald’s have rediscovered that fact.

Here are a few classics that make the point. If you knew them back in the day, you’ll be singing along.