Spoiler Alert: Your 3-Year-Old’s âSpace Banana Unicornâ Costume Has Better Brand Recognition than Your Entire Marketing Plan

In a surprising twist that will leave you questioning not only your professional expertise but also your grip on reality, branding experts now claim that toddlers are, in fact, savvier when it comes to rebranding than the average small business owner.
Thatâs right, your childâthe one who insists on wearing a tutu with rain boots while carrying a toy chainsawâis 100% nailing their personal brand. Meanwhile, youâve been agonizing over hex codes for weeks, only to churn out the most forgettable logo since The Gapâs infamous redesign. Honestly, ew.
Toddlers: The Unlikely Branding Geniuses
âLook, youâve been stuck in decision paralysis over your brand colors for months, but your toddler just taped a horn to a banana suit and called it a âSpace Banana Unicorn,â and guess what? Itâs memorable,â said Wendy McKnight, a brand strategist who charges $500 an hour to tell you what your 3-year-old figured out during snack time.
McKnight, an award-winning consultant, now advises small business owners to embrace the chaotic genius of their childrenâs Halloween costumes. âDo you want to be just another bland, cookie-cutter brand? Or do you want to be the âSpace Banana Unicornâ that everyone talks about at parties? That kid just solved your entire rebranding strategy in 12 seconds, while you were still debating whether âMidnight Navyâ or âMoonlight Navyâ would resonate more with your audience.â
Small business owners spend months pouring over brand guides, positioning statements, and customer personas. But it turns out, toddlers are wired to cut through the noise and deliver what every successful brand strives for: attention-grabbing, disruptive creativity. Sure, your “sleek minimalist look” is chic, but does it stop traffic at the preschool drop-off line? Probably not.
Toddlers Understand One Thing You Donât: Authenticity
In the world of small business branding, experts are constantly preaching about the importance of authenticity. It’s a bit of a drag, if we’re being honest. Speaking of honesty, most brand messaging these days ends up sounding about as genuine as a corporate apology email. On the other hand, a toddlerâs brand choicesâwhether itâs wearing a Batman cape with a pair of swim goggles or deciding that theyâre a cowboy-princess-firefighterâis pure authenticity. No focus groups, no research, just unapologetic self-expression.
According to McKnight, this unfiltered creativity is exactly what small business owners need in their next rebranding strategy.
âOne parent I worked with admitted their 4-year-oldâs decision to dress as a zombie firefighter for Halloween garnered more attention on their personal Instagram than the entire yearâs worth of Facebook ads for their business,â McKnight explained. âTheyâd been trying to position their brand as âinnovative,â but now theyâre seriously considering going all in on âZombie Firefighters.â Frankly, I think itâs genius.â
Related: Why Small Business Owners Should Rebrand Every Halloween
What Does This Mean for Your Next Rebranding Campaign?
The toddler-approved rebranding approach isnât about abandoning all reason, but rather about learning to embrace the unexpected, the bizarre, and the memorable. After all, does your current branding stop people in their tracks?
Consider this: your last marketing campaign involved over-complicated customer segmentation, target market analysis, and six months of back-and-forth with a graphic designer over a font that âjust didnât feel right.â The result? A perfectly polished brand that nobody remembers.
Meanwhile, your toddler slapped together a DIY costume from things they found in the back of your car and became the talk of the neighborhood.
Hereâs a handy comparison to drive the point home:
YOUR REBRANDING STRATEGY | YOUR TODDLER’S COSTUME |
Agonized over brand colors for months | Picked neon-green crayon with no regrets |
Researched customer personas endlessly | Became a ‘Space Banana Unicorn’ instantly |
Hired overpriced branding consultants | Asked for help taping wings to a hoodie |
Created content that got no engagement | Everyone wants a photo with them |
Outcome: Over-polished and forgettable | Outcome: Unforgettable and authentic |
Do the math. Youâre pouring all your energy into creating a brand that plays it safe, while your toddlerâwho just smeared peanut butter on the wallsâis unintentionally building something more buzzworthy.

Embrace Your Inner âSpace Banana Unicornâ
Hereâs the brutal truth for every small business owner: your brand doesnât need another well-researched but utterly boring rebranding strategy. It needs something fresh, unexpected, andâdare we sayâabsurd.
So, before you hire another overpriced branding consultant to tell you that your color palette needs “soothing tones,” try handing the reins over to your 3-year-old for a day. At the very least, theyâll probably give you an idea more original than âsleek, modern, and professionalââwords that, letâs face it, now mean absolutely nothing.
Actionable Takeaways for Small Business Owners
- Stop overthinking your branding: Just like your kid, who confidently chose to mix superhero capes and animal print pants, don’t be afraid to blend unexpected elements in your brand.
- Memorable > Perfect: Your kidâs ‘Space Banana Unicorn’ outfit didnât take months to design, but itâs something people remember. Your brand doesnât need to be perfect; it needs to be talked about.
- Authenticity over trends: Kids don’t follow fashion rules, and neither should your brand. Authenticity resonates more than following every new marketing trend.
- Take risks: Toddlers donât care about whatâs trendyâthey care about whatâs fun. The same should apply to your rebranding strategy.
Conclusion: Why You Should Let Your Toddler Handle Your Next Brand Refresh
By this point, you might be thinking, âShould I really take branding advice from someone who eats playdough?â And to that, I say: absolutely. Your toddler might be a chaotic ball of energy, but thatâs what makes them the perfect brand consultant. Their ideas are bold, original, andâmost importantlyâtheyâll get people talking.
So, the next time youâre staring at that branding brief, stressing over fonts, and pretending that more research will magically turn your company into Apple, consider letting your toddler have a say. After all, itâs not like your last campaign worked anyway.
Hope you enjoyed this article. While this is loaded with toddler-inspired Halloween-themed humor, there’s most definitely some truth to it. Your brand does need personality, creativity and maaaayyybe a little less overthinking.
If you’re ready to put some pep back in your brand’s step, book a call with Hey, Carl! We’ll take your business from ‘me’ to memorable. While Carl can’t promise unicorn horns or space helmets, you can find that bold, authentic identity that’ll stick with your audience.
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