Go Ahead, Trick Us, we Dare You

The trouble with America's $700bn bail-out is the "B" word itself - bail-out, say advertising chiefs. Branding expert Jonathan Gabay considers how a little creative story-telling could have saved a whole lot of financial turmoil.

It has, according to some of the sharpest advertising minds in America, a "failure of branding". Had President George Bush concentrated on the word "rescue" when selling the $700bn "bail-out" package, say ad chiefs, the plan might have sailed through Congress rather than first being rejected.