Once you’ve put your finger on “who you are” and set about framing a convincing case that your restaurant has a distinct personality, an individual ad can discuss off-topic issues and still come off advancing the primary brand mission. So: Now that Ving Rhames has become not simply the voice but the attitude of Arby’s, running an ad that’s technically off-topic (like the following) isn’t a big deal—since it’s all completely within the established brand voice.

It’s easy to picture a lot of other brands suddenly wondering what they can charmingly apologize for. Although most of them haven’t got such a well-defined attitude/voice to play with.

This is how you make cola out of carbonation.