The Iceman Cometh...Again.

Starting October 14, Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) will host a 8-part series on the DIY Network called "The Vanilla Ice Project." The show follows Vanilla while he renovates a 7,000 square foot mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. Van Winkle went from the self-proclaimed "Iceman" rap star in the early 90's to a disturbed reality TV star on season 2 of The Surreal Life in the 2000's. Alright, given the nature of terrible reality television this was an acceptable career move. And now 10 years later, the obvious juxtaposition for the "Iceman" is to host his own home improvement show on the DIY Network. Comparing Vanilla Ice to Bob Villa and Ty Pennington just feels natural. Apparently he has over 15 years of experience in the construction business and according to the DIY Network he has quite a "passion for home renovation". That would make sense since he fell from his well deserved stardom, well, about 15 years ago.

Lets not jump to any conclusions about the run away success of this new masterpiece. Lets keep an open mind here. After all, the DIY Network is working with an award winning actor. Vanilla Ice won the Golden Raspberry award in 1992 for "worst new star" for the role of a freewheeling, motorcycle-riding rapper named John 'Johnny' Van Owen in the epic film Cool as Ice.

The "Iceman" is confidant about his new endeavor; "The way I build and renovate homes is different…It's the rock-star style of doing it. We have fun. Maybe we'll drop some fireworks or a smoke bomb in the middle of everybody working." Vanilla. Dude. You may have dropped some hits on us in the 90's, but all you'll be dropping these days are DIY Network's ratings.

There is something good coming out of all of this. You can "Ice Yourself" on a website to help promote the new show where your computers webcam takes snapshots of yourself and then layers them into mini-videos featuring different scenarios with you and the "Iceman" himself.

Go ahead, Ice Yourself.

The Gap Has A Brand New Brand

So Gap Inc. decides to meddle with their $4 billion brand and change their infamous blue logo into one that looks like an adobe training session. Maybe their trying to become a financial institution? Hedge fund? Not quite sure myself. Abe Sauer, a writer for Brand Channel has a nice take on the situation:

"Its [Gaps] classic blue-boxed logo is missing, replaced with a Helvetica Gap with a box perched behind the 'p' like a window.

Yes, after dominating the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gap has dropped its iconic logo in favor of something that looks like it cost $17 from an old Microsoft Word clipart gallery.

But ditching the classic logo, recognized by everyone, in favor of whatever that new monstrosity is, demonstrates a prototypical brand panic move. With things not going in its favor, the brand decides to change the one valuable element it has going for it.

Ironically maybe, the new logo is perfect for the brand. It communicates exactly the values currently embodied by Gap: A sense of being lost and a lack of clear vision and creativity."

Gap. Seriously. You work in the fashion business. Your industry is driven by creativity. Ditch the ad agency that regurgitates bank logos all day and hire an agency with some originality and a backbone. According to Interbrand's 2010 study, Gap is the 84th most-valuable brand in the world. Lets splurge a little.

If your experiencing any logo envy, just click here. It sure beats hiring a professional.