NonStop Culture and Chili's NonStop Fajitas

NonStop® Everything

• About a year after leaving Sequent Computer Systems and working a few subcontractor gigs, my former Tektronix manager Lyle Settle brought me in for a one-year technical writing contract at Tandem Computers headquarters in Cupertino.
• At Tandem HQ, the fault-tolerant branding was inescapable: everything was "NonStop® this and NonStop® that." It permeated every internal product name, memo, and hallway conversation.

NonStop® Fajitas at the Mall

• Directly adjacent to the Tandem campus stood the Vallco Fashion Mall.
• The local Chili's at the mall decided to capitalize on the neighborhood demographic by launching an all-you-can-eat skillet promotion branded explicitly as "NonStop® Fajitas", complete with Tandem's trademarked camel-case spelling.
• Tandem management and legal never objected—everyone in the company found the playful homage hilarious.