For thirteen years running, Coke commanded its position at the very top of Interbrand’s “Best Global Brands” list. Which made us think: “You mean to say, given the entire sum of mankind’s striving, innovating, struggling, reaching for that brass ring — that the most scintillatingly valuable brand we can produce is a fizzy drink?”

It was enough to drive us to,well, if not despair, then at least to reach for a rum and Coke.

All of which made us smile just a little bit when we heard that Apple has, at long last, finally unseated Coke. And that smile grew a bit wider when we heard Google slipped into the #2 spot, dropping Coke to third. In fact, “we” as consumers seem to be putting more value in brands that put more value into creativity and intellectual prowess, than brands where the height of innovation is represented by The Hamburglar. Which is both good news for the future humanity, and a reassuring note on which to start our weekend.

Read about it in the NYT here. Or you can go direct to the source, Interbrand, here.