Abebe Folgers and Hackeem Mountain Grown were sitting around
a fire on the edge of the Ethiopian desert one evening in the year 1385. Their
fire was burning low, so Abebe searched around and found a branch from a dead
tree to use for fuel. On the tree were dried beans that somewhat resembled
pintos, but with a little more swagger. He thought little about it as he
threw it on the fire, and continued his visit with his buddy (whom he
affectionately called Hack for short - with a guttural "H," of course).
After a few moments a pleasant aroma began to fill the air. Hack
made an offhand comment that that certainly would go well with croissants and
jam in the mornings, and Abebe agreed. As they investigated to ascertain the
origin of the smell, they determined that it came from the beans. Both agreed
that it was completely unlike any odor they had ever associated with beans.
They rescued a few of them from the fire, crushed them and dropped them in
their University of Dolo Odo drinking mugs ($5.95 at the campus bookstore).
Abebe’s eyebrows went up. “You know, I think that would really
sell to the proper market. Ashenafi sells that awful stuff he makes by steeping
some sort of leaves. This would be so much better. I think I will talk to him
about it.”
“Great idea!” replied Hack. “We could apply for a patent and
have a monopoly right from the start.”
The boys named the new brew after Abebe, since his name
would be closer to the front of the alphabet. A few years later the tag line
was added. Abebe had noticed that whenever Hack would call him, he would invariably
identify himself by saying, “It’s Mountain Grown.” This sounded so apt that
the boys had the Marketing Department add the phrase underneath the corporate logo. Thus was laid the foundation of
one of the great fortunes of the continent of Africa.
1 comment:
I'm dont want to say that I might have been more than half way through that before I became suspicious that it might not be totally accurate.
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