Who Do You Love?

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But GM also has trouble walking the talk of Silverado's gauzy message. We know that, while GM is celebrating the workin' man, its recent history includes layoffs that have put tens of thousands on the street. And, as Slate has pointed out, we know that while Mellencamp indulges in a bit of jingoism with his declaration that "this is our country," he once sang a remarkably similar line, "ain't that America," with a caustic edge. "Our Country, Our Truck" has all of the trappings but none of the rich truths that make for a truly authentic story.

Can you be cool and still be authentic?

Chris Bangle, BMW's design director, contends there's a universal explanation for why successful brands stumble: They fail to evolve. Bangle calls them "fortress brands." Deeply rooted in their heritage and values, they are inflexible, unmovable, and ultimately stuck in time. "That's the problem with a dogmatic, static brand," he says. "The competition will outflank it, and the world will pass it by."

Levi's, for one, is a brand that appears to have slipped into the fortress category. The king of denim, whose founder stitched and riveted the world's first pair of jeans in 1873, has lately missed out on the fast-changing trends of an industry that it created. When the craze for $200-a-pair, ripped and jewel-studded denim exploded in the late 1990s, Levi's persisted in distributing boxy jeans for men through cut-rate retailers. According to a January report in The New York Times, Levi's is now the apparel industry's most litigious company--a sure sign of a reactionary brand that attacks by retreating.

To maintain its integrity, a brand must remain true to its values. And yet, to be relevant--or cool--a brand must be as dynamic as change itself. An authentic brand reconciles those two conflicting impulses, finding ways to be original within the context of its history. Look at Abercrombie & Fitch. Its flagship store on New York's Fifth Avenue twines the company's legacy as a purveyor of outdoor paraphernalia with its role as modern-day hangout for teens buying jeans and T-shirts. The store combines the visual iconography of its origins--a moosehead mounted over the cashier's counter, wooden canoes, and racks of ancient shotguns--with the dark lighting and amped-to-the-max soundtrack of an after-hours dance club. "This place mixes the old and new in a really delightful way," Thinktopia's Hanlon shouted above the din, when we visited on a recent Monday afternoon. "It's an inspiration that proudly declares you can have more than 900 stores scattered in shopping malls throughout the U.S. and still have soul."

Sometimes even the most homogenized of places can evoke a flicker of authenticity. The morning after last fall's congressional elections, the newly elected senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, breakfasted at his usual spot, the International House of Pancakes in Union City. Menendez, formerly mayor of Union City, sat in his regular booth, ordered the same breakfast he always orders, and spent an hour catching up with longtime friends.

Few restaurants are more prefab than IHOP, yet there Menendez was, paying homage to a staff that knew his breakfast by heart and to patrons who've watched his kids grow up. On the surface, the Union City franchise is hardly authentic--it's similar to the IHOP in, say, Muncie, Indiana. But the friendships that Menendez has made there are certainly genuine. It's not that Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, BMW, Nike, or any other brand is really, really real. What's real are the experiences and the connections that the brands allow us to make--if they give us an honest chance.

Feedback: breen@fastcompany.com