From this consumerism emerged a new retail animal in the '80s and '90s: the logo queen. She was obsessed only with polo ponies and interlocked C's. She was loyal to her logos.

Today, that creature has morphed into something that goes by the unflattering name "brand slut" (the nicer term is "brand promiscuous"). She would be the fashion and beauty consumer who flits from one brand to the next.

5 Brand Sluts: Yeah, we're talkin' to you. Trendster and JWT Exec VP Marian Salzman defines "brand sluts" as consumers who flit from one brand to the next with no sense of fidelity to any of them. While the connotation is negative, brand sluts are in fact savvy consumers.

According to market research, at a certain age — they peg it, I think, at 35 — a person just suddenly knows who he is. What he likes to eat. Which beer he prefers to drink. What car he wants to drive, which paste he wants to brush his teeth with, and how he wants his underarms to smell. So after about 35, the average consumer is unreachable. No matter how much money a company spends trying to convince him to smell spicier or sexier, he's unlikely to change.

But the 18 to 34 crowd, apparently, are disloyal brand sluts. They hop and whore around the place, trying this new beer or that new car or body sprays and tooth whiteners: they can be bought, in other words. And that makes them desirable.