If you’ve ever heard the radio weather in Tasmania, you’ll know that it generally goes something like this: ‘Rain in Launceston, snow in Hobart and fine elsewhere.’ A moment’s inspiration and a capital letter and the Glazier’s Bay vineyard had name for its product that was memorable and apt – if not always initially convincing.
The story of Elsewhere got me thinking about all the weirdly named brands we’re surrounded by and where the devil their names came from.
Like Vegemite. The story goes that following a nationwide competition with a prize of £50 to find a name for the new spread, the name Vegemite was selected out of a hat. If fate had played her hand differently, this national icon could just have easily been called Donkey droppings or Collywobbler. I'd love to see marketers take this approach in 2010!
And this. Would you believe that iconic brand, Nike, was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports (catchy – not) and didn’t become Nike until 1978? The company takes its name from the Greek goddess of victory.
In fact, for a largely heathen bunch, marketers draw much inspiration from religion. For instance, Canon was named after the company’s first camera, the Kwanon (You cwan on a Kwanaon?). Kwanon is the Japanese name of the Buddhist Bodhisattva of mercy.
Similarly, Asus of netbook fame, is named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The founders dropped the first three letters for a high position in alphabetical listings (why let thousands of years of mythological tradition stand in the way of a potential sale?).
Did you ever wonder what the two M’s stand for in M&Ms? They represent the surnames of the two founders. (Incidentally, many brands I followed up simply feed the egos of their founders, even brands that seem as though they might have more interesting origins – Coon, for example.)
Now consider Scotch tape. Despite the tartan, it actually doesn't hail from Scotland. A customer complained that 3M was manufacturing its masking tape too cheaply and told the company’s representative to, ‘take this tape back to your stingy Scotch bosses and tell them to put more adhesive on it'. That’s how Scotch tape was born.
The name Google started as a joke about the amount of information the search engine could sift through – a googol of information (a googol is the number one followed by 100 zeros). When company founders gave a presentation to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to ‘Google’.
Fanta came about when the guy in charge of Coke’s German operation urged his team to use their imagination ('imagination' is ‘fantasie’ in German), to which one of his salesmen immediately replied, ‘Fanta!’
Nivea comes from the Latin word meaning snow-white.
Tim Tams were named by Ross Arnott, who attended the 1958 Kentucky Derby and decided that the name of the winning horse, Tim Tam, was perfect for his biscuits.
Starbucks is taken from Moby-Dick. After 'Pequod’ was rejected by one of the co-founders (gosh, I can't imagine why), the company was named for the first mate on the Pequod, Starbuck. (What the mobester has to do with coffee, I don't know – but then I haven't read the book.)
Finally, the Hush Puppies name was coined by the brand's first sales manager, James Gaylord Muir. For dinner one night, he was served hush puppies. These are traditional fried southern cornballs. When Muir asked about the origin of the name, he was told that farmers threw hush puppies at the hounds to ‘quiet their barking dogs’. Muir saw a connection to his new product. At that time, ‘barking dogs’ was slang for sore feet. Muir decided his new shoes were so comfortable that they could ‘quiet barking dogs’ (or ‘hush puppies’). Convoluted but interesting.
As for the name Dogfish Head Snowblower Ale… I dunno. Maybe too much product sampling?
Image: Maggie Smith
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