NANTUCKET, Mass. It all started with Bob and Tom, two self-described “ordinary guys” who decided to try their hands at making salt water taffy here. “They were the first to adopt the mantle of the humble, average Joe who loved what he did and just happened to become a multi-millionaire doing it,” says brand strategist Culver McNamee. “Unfortunately, like atom bomb secrets, once other guys saw how successful they were, it touched off an arms-race of bogus humility.”
“We make 100% natural cotton swabs to get your earwax out!”
Next came Jim and Joe, two self-effacing “aw-shucks” types who came up with a recipe for chili that their friends liked, and they looked into mass production. “We did a lot of focus groups,” Jim says. “We found out if we came across as modest young men just trying to make the world a better place we’d crush our competition and improve our profit margins.”
“Juice is cool, but my real passion is leaf blowers!”
And so the “two guys who stumbled into success” model spread, to the point where now unlikely products such as ceiling tiles are marketed under its rubric. “Seriously, you’ve got to try this stuff,” says Aaron Wallerstein of Aaron & Jacob, who make a natural plastic cement that he offers to this reporter. “You can’t get this aroma anymore–it’s just like the airplane glue I used to sniff when I was a kid.”
“Dude–you’ve got to try our high thread-count sheets!”
With the proliferation of competitors has come inter-brand sniping, however, and a bit of macho posturing. “Those guys aren’t anywhere near as humble as me and Tom,” says taffy magnate Bob Evershevsky. “I mean, those guys should start out in my humility kindergarden they’re such amateurs.”
But newcomers say there’s no way to patent a thin veneer of self-effacing modesty, and they won’t drop their schtick as long as it makes them tons of money. “They left the field wide open,” says Mike Adamle of Mike & Trey’s Totally Cool Tires as he puffs on a joint. “There’s no way you can go in ice or snow with salt water taffy on your rear axles.”