We Don't Need No Stinking Badges ... 30 Word of Mouth Symbols

Trivia question: from which movie, did the title of this post come from? (I'll accept two accurate responses  - answers at the end of this post).

If you're interested In the word of mouth, you may need to rethink the notion of not requiring badges. 

Badges, symbols and any public tokens of brand involvement and affection are an exceptionally powerful display of enthusiasm for a brand. Be they T-shirt, trinket, gadget, article of consumption or online badge and widget, they are beacons for positive affinity with products, ideas and causes.

Unlike advertising, badges are unspoken and ongoing personal testimonials that scream "I think this brand is cool enough, I want to wear or display it publicly (perhaps even pay for the purpose of wearing it)."

A wise colleague once told me that true brand adoration (not the stuff we see from brand satisfaction monitors) is whether or not somebody would be prepared to tattoo your brand on their body. Cell phones, charities, high end shops, automobiles, sports teams, religions, credit cards and haute fashion get this game. Beer companies, travel destinations,  media companies and most computer hardware companies seem to missing out here.

My personal positive experience with badges?  I have for the last 3-4 years wore a "Livestrong wristband"  in support of Lance Armstrong's foundation. I enjoy wearing it even when it's peaking out under the cuffs of my shirts during executive presentations. It's a public expression for my support of Lance Armstrong (a great athlete with a great story), support of a fight against cancer (which has recently afflicted my family) and is a nod to others who embrace active life, fitness and competition as I do. It's amazing how many comments I still receive from others intrigued with  my yellow plastic bracelet.

My personal negative experience with badges? Spending 5 years in Canada's biggest beer companies, raging against the cheesy merchandise that we put out. I still see an amazing amount of 200 thread count, horribly greying, $2.50 t-shirts being worn by our customer base many years later. The failure to  make the link between wearing a decrepit beer brand wearable with a negative impact on brand image is only one of a number of reasons why the mainstream beer brands are leaking down to price brands and leaking up to premium brands (thankfully when I was head of marketing for Guinness, we were clear this link existed).

Here are my votes for the top 30 brand badges:
- Apple Mac
- Breast Cancer Ribbon
- Lance Armstrong Wristband
- Harley Davidson 1% Tattoo
- Chanel Glasses
- Guinness Tulip Glass
- Heineken's Green Bottle
- Jaguar Hood Ornament
- Boston Red Sox Cap
- Union Jack Mod Badge
- European Football Scarves
- Puma T-Shirt
- Starbuck's Cup
- Canadian Flag Backpacker's Pack
- Lululemon Shopping Bag
- Crown Royal Velvet Bag
- Spacing Subway Buttons
- Coke Classic Bottle
- Rolling Stones Lips
- Green Bay Cheeseheads
- The Cross
- RSS Feed Badge
- I Love New York
- Target Bullesye
- John Deere Trucker hat
- Nike Swoosh
- John 3:16
- American Express Platinum, Black or Red Card
- Moleskine
- Burberry Check

How 'bout your external badges of word of mouth?

Oh by the way - answers: 1948's The Treasure of Sierra Madre or 1974's Blazing Saddles