My daughter Hana saw these in a store and texted me a photo, being impressed with Jelly Belly's marketing savvy.

They aren't available very often, but when they are...Jelly Belly fans love to snap up our famous Belly Flops. These special beans taste great, but don't quite meet all of our demanding standards for size, color, shape and flavor.    

 - From back of bag, as blogged by Sugar Pressure

 This is another example of the world's greatest marketing axiom (my favorite anyway): If You Can't Fix It, Feature It!

Four marketing lessons from Belly Flops:

1. Instead of trashing the misshapen jellybeans or hiding the irregularities, they feature the "mistake" and the fun it produces:

You may find one that's round, one that's square, or you may even find a bunch stuck together. On very rare occasions, a flavor may not match a color. A red Belly Flop might taste like Blueberry, or a white one might taste like Chocolate Pudding. Crazy!

2. The product name Belly Flops leverages the well-established Jelly Belly brand name, while simultaneously repurposing a kinda funny label that most people know refers to a not very serious, well, flop. Which is all strongly reinforced by the graphics on the bag.

3. They assure customers of the usual great Jelly Belly taste, and at the same time, reinforce that they have "demanding" aesthetic standards that this product doesn't meet.

4. They make us feel like we're getting a deal - half price, in fact.

Good marketing JB!

If You Can't Fix it, Feature It (IYCFIFI) remains one of the most powerful marketing axioms I know. From green M&Ms to Nicorette's Quitting Sucks campaign, I showcase lots of examples of IYCFIFI in this blog.

And you'll see IYCFIFI applies not just in business, but in all areas of life. Here's a funny example from comedian Demetri Martin:

One of my friends has a stutter, and a lot of people think that's a bad thing, but to me that's just like starting certain words with a drum roll. That's not an impediment, that's suspense.

Here's a video clip from a young Demetri that includes his stuttering bit:

http://comedians.jokes.com/demetri-martin/videos/demetri-martin---stuttering

Let me know IYCFIFI examples you run across too (I'll credit you by name of course-unless you want anonymity).

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of green M&Ms?

When I was growing up in the '70s, everyone "knew" that green M&Ms were an aphrodisiac. Even if we didn't know what the word meant, we sure knew what it led to! Or what we believed it led to. Where the urban legend started, no one knows for sure. But what a great marketing idea! For years, Mars, the company that makes M&MS, denied the green M&M story. Then they decided to capitalize on it.

Here's the Valentine's Day story from a few years ago, excerpted from blogger David Emery's fine post. Mars dubbed green "the new color of love" for Valentine's Day. Special all-green packages of M&Ms were available through the holiday marked with a "disclaimer" that read, "Consumption of The Green Ones® may result in elevated romance levels. If you experience this effect, contact your significant other immediately." The idea was to stand out "amidst a sea of traditional red and pink products." And they did.

Mars was putting into action my favorite marketing axiom: If you can't fix it, feature it! They recognized how widespread the myth was, probably thought it was harmless, and figured out how to uniquely market what they then called "the Green One" while simultaneously positioning the brand to appeal more to teens and even adults.

Since then, "Miss Green" (the only female M&M) has done a racy Sports Illustrated swimsuit video commentary, a strip tease video, and a music video with Adam Lambert that has parental warnings for sexually provocative content and nudity (a naked Miss Green, not Adam!).

Can we create and capitalize upon harmless myths to promote health and social good... a pro-social placebo? Hey, maybe CDC will make asparagus the new green aphrodisiac!

This Nicorette ad is a great example of my all-time favorite marketing axiom: IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT FEATURE IT! Check it out.

I used to teach stop-smoking classes at Kaiser many years ago (I'm now a long-time recovered health educator). Anyone who has tried to quit knows quitting sucks. It is really tough. So rather than pretend otherwise, Nicorette acknowledges it directly with their "Suck-O-Meter." Because it is what it is. Everyone knows it. Truth makes marketing work.