Kennon-Green & Co. Global Asset Management, Wealth Management, Investment Advisory, and Value Investing

How the Mere Association Mental Model Destroyed a Perfectly Good Diet Business

In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the Carlay Company in Chicago, Illinois developed a candy coated dietary suppressant called Ayds.  It sold the business to Campana Corporation.  Campana was then sold to Dow Chemical.  In the 1960’s, Dow sold the business to Purex and hired legendary Hollywood stars and other celebrities to endorse the product.  In…

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Yeah, Right

Many decades ago, Oxford Philosophy of Language Professor J.L. Austin and Columbia philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser reportedly had this exchange: “In English,” Professor Austin said, “a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn’t a single language, not one, in which a double positive can…

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