A 70-year-old magazine shuts its doors. This was no rash decision, probably bleeding money for ages and no one was interested in buying it. There is a lot to think about, the simplest answer – anyone have gourmet.com bookmarked? Certainly their weak online presence is a big cause – but I think there is something much bigger at play.

In three months we will be “tweening” into the teens: 2010. We are months away from starting many sentences with “Back in the . . .” . . . Back in the what? What is this decade called? “Post 9-11″?, “The Aughts”? “The New Millennium”? We do not have a clue.

It is clear we are bit rudderless when is comes to mankind’s future and there many more important aspects to this reality than brands, advertising and media, but I am caught up. Gourmet is/was an authentic brand and at one time, somewhat brave and contemporary. And while we are witnesses to a great deal of nostalgia in marketing and advertising (Ray Ban’s Wayfarers, BMW and Porsche Coupe’s, etc), our tastes and interests are about the future. The fact is we are scared as hell of the impending super-contemporization of mankind. (Last night I heard about an island near D.C where every plant and animal has been DNA-sequenced, there are several remote-controlled cars on Mars right now and the Beatles have a video game . . .)

I have a point – Progress happens with or without our consent, we may be all dressing like Don Draper and Jackie Kennedy, but we are now making our own Sushi, not Pork Chops. And whether we like it or not, the first 10 years of the new millennium are history. Gourmet may or may have not seen this coming – they chose to remain “pre-unknown” and lost.

Get your brand ready, we are in for a wild ride.