I've written before (for example here) about how unhelpful the Brand Idea has become.
Actually, I think my point was that it had become too useful: because there's no agreed definition, you can use "Brand" to mean anything thing you want, to prescribe and justify what you want to do or proscribe and scorn what you don't want to do.
It's a shorthand that signals lazy thinking or worse.
A way of both obfuscating stuff and at the same time avoiding tough thinking about how stuff really works
So when this morning's Guardian Weekend mag trails an interview with John Leslie, minor TV celeb with a string of alleged sexual assault (and equally alleged drug abuse history) with the words
'I failed to protect the brand ... moi'
...you know it's time to stop
So I'm going to propose an amnesty.
If - from today - you stop using the B-word, we won't say any more about it. Your previous will be wiped from the record.
Now, move along, nothing to see here...