While in China, I wasn't terribly surprised that Ben was already able to recognize the McDonald's and KFC logos, crying out that he was hungry whenever we passed by one of these establishments. I chalked it up to the global marketing efforts of these leading exporters of American culture, but perhaps I should have allowed for the powerful pull of branding and image recognition in general.

A couple of months ago, we bought a new car for Kari, a 2001 Volvo station wagon. Yes, yes, I know we are yuppies. We've more or less given up trying to disguise it. Anyway, Ben had accompanied us on our car-buying excursion and the new car obviously made a great impression on him. We weren't surprised when he began recognizing other Volvo station wagons by the shape; nor did we think much of it when he noticed the logo on the grill of a car parked at a friends house.

Then, last weekend while on a road trip, Ben began noting the large number of Volvo semi trucks that ply the interstates. Once, while passing an otherwise nondescript billboard, he pointed at the large logo and called out, "Volvo!" Thanks to the power of marketing (and his parents' yuppie-ish tendencies), the name of a Swedish car manufacturer has become one of the first half-dozen or so English words the Ben has learned to read.