What's behind America's recent craze in employing monkeys for business names, logos, and brand collateral? And why does this marketing monkey blitz have to come about just months before the launch of DressMonkey.com!? There I was in Shanghai for over a year thinking that DressMonkey -- and the brand building startegies we created for it -- would be a fresh idea I'd bring back with me to share with everyone back at home. Little did Coley and I know that Americans were already being pre-exposed to the affability of our mischevious and playful primordial predecessors (I first became aware of this fact last month at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco when I saw a careerbuilder poster ad of a monkey smiling at me in a dress shirt and tie). We were completely oblivious to everything from LoveMonkey to SurveryMonkey to the careerbuilder monkeys.

I'll admit the Careerbuilder ads are funny mainly because they play off of the many connotations that monkeys suggest. And let's face it, monkeys wearing monkey suits in an office setting can make any desk jockey laugh. But just be sure to save some of your laughs for what DressMonkey has in store.