Is the Maalox Naming and Branding Debacle FDA's Fault?

The FDA is getting serious about misleading labels, branding and naming.

They are looking at claims like "low fat," "high fiber," and "cholesterol-free" and responding to customer requests for actual warnings on packaging if a food is "high calorie" or "low in nutrients". This came to a head last year when the FDA found that the voluntary "Smart Choices" program was seeing boxes of Froot Loops getting labeled as a healthy option.

This is already having an effect on drug safety where dozens of medications are getting zapped with labeling changes or changes to information about their their boxed warnings, contraindications, precautions and adverse reactions.

This is all pretty routine news until you consider that last month Maalox was hit by news of "serious" adverse reactions from consumers thanks to poor naming and branding of one of their products.

Their "Total Relief" product looks just like their "Advanced" antacid, but it is in fact much different and the danger to consumers has attracted the notice of lawyers. Notably, "Total Relief" contains aspirin-like ingredient called bismuth subsalicylate, which normal Maalox does not.

People associate Maalox with aspirin-free antacid, and Maalox is benefiting from this to sell this fairly different line extension. This so-called "brand name creep" into a new medicine territory offers real danger to consumers.

It is proof of labeling's impact. Now, Novartis, which owns Maalox, has to remove the Maalox name from the product. They also have to "change the product label design, conduct an educational campaign, and actively monitor and report adverse events associated with the use of Maalox-brand products." The new product, with the new name, will come out in September.

Ouch.

Bnet says Novartis is not exactly at fault here. According to blogger Jim Edwards, "The government agency has a longstanding - and completely insane - policy of allowing two different drugs to be given the same brand name, or two identical drugs to be given different brand names." Hmmm.

Technorati Tags: Maalox, FDA, Total Relief, Maalox Advanced, Novartis

Posted by William Lozito at 8:40 AM
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Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Marketing | Naming Rights | Pharmaceutical | Product Naming | Trademarking

Punch Ya Daddy Naming Continues to Live On

I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news, so I'll just put it out there: "Punch Ya Daddy" seasoning can keep its (ridiculous) name.

I wrote about the seasoning war simmering between "Slap Ya Mama" and "Punch Ya Daddy" last year. The makers of "Slap Ya Mama" Cajun seasoning, Walker & Sons, slapped "Punch Ya Daddy" with a trademark infringement lawsuit last year.

Now, a federal judge has ordered "Punch Ya Daddy" to change its logo and packaging, which is very similar to that of "Slap Ya Mama" and "damaging the plaintiff's business".

The judge ruled that "Slap Ya Momma" is a term that is "quite common" whereas "Punch Ya Daddy" is not, so as far as the naming goes, there is little likelihood of confusion.

The term "Punch Ya Daddy" came from when the toddler son of the maker of the stuff, Kirby Falcon, said "I'm going to punch ya, Daddy".

"Slap Ya Mama, on the other hand, is a term down in the Bayou that means you like something so much you want to "Slap Ya Mama With joy"

As for me? I'm slapping my forehead at the idiocy of it all.

Technorati Tags: Punch Ya Daddy, Slap Ya Mama, Naming Dispute, Bayou, Cajun

Posted by William Lozito at 8:46 AM
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Posted to Brand Naming | Food | Licensing | Naming | Naming Rights | Trademarking

A New Look for Can Do Canines™ to March into the Future

For the past few months, we at Strategic Name Development have been partnering with Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota (HSDM) to create a new, more all-encompassing name and logo for their steps into the future.

HSDM is a non-profit organization located in New Hope, Minnesota, and for over 20 years, Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota has been enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities by partnering them with specially trained dogs. Since the company's inception, they have placed over 300 service dogs to people with disabilities. All at no cost to those in need.

However, the organization was growing far beyond its original scope. They were moving to a newer, much larger facility where they can train three times as many dogs as before. Now, HSDM is placing dogs with people in need across the Midwest, not just in Minnesota.

And the dogs' skills are growing as well. They are being trained to do much more than just help those that are deaf or profoundly hard of hearing. Now the dogs can assist people with mobility challenges, diabetes complicated by hypoglycemia unawareness, seizure disorders, and autism. Most recently they have recommitted to serving the needs of disabled returning veterans.

Clearly, the organization needed a new name, and the 'can-do' attitude of the volunteers, the employees, the sponsors, and of course, the canines was perfect inspiration for just that.

As a result, Can Do Canines™, was born.

Al Peters, the organization's executive director said,

I am confident that the new name, Can Do Canines™, reflects much better the people we serve, our volunteers and entire team that makes these special partnerships possible. Each person has to say, 'I can do it' in order for them to be successful."

We at Strategic Name Development were very happy to provide pro bono services for the project; the partnership could not have been any smoother. We are confident Can Do Canines will enjoy much continued success in the future.

Technorati Tags: Can Do Canines, Assistance Dogs, Hearing and Service Dogs, Company Renaming

Posted by William Lozito at 12:36 PM
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Posted to Company Naming | Licensing | Naming | Trademarking

Sony "Moves" Away From Arc Naming and Branding; Better Than "Giggle Stick"

Oops, well I'm only human. Back in January I believed the hype and predicted that Sony would name its new PlayStation wireless controller the "Arc."

Nope. It's going to be called the "Move" and it's coming out this fall in a kit costing under $100.

CNET's Crave says that by unveiling the name Sony can start its all-out attack on Nintendo. The name was announced yesterday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

It works with the PlayStation Eye web cam, and Sony claims 36 third party developers and publishers have signed up to support the new product, not to mention the 20 games Sony has planned for it as well.

Its subcontroller adds a joystick and a directional pad.

There were some pretty provocative ideas for the naming sent in by Joystiq readers, but when Joystiq's blog did a poll on it, Move won out.

Joystiq also notes that the logo looks suspiciously like the letter "A", because, they posit, Sony did want to name their controller the Arc but ran into trademark issues.

Already blogosphere wags have generated eight "better" names for the thing, including "Giggle Stick," "Party Rod," and "The Sceptre of Ultimate Power".

Um, maybe not, but good effort bloggers.

The bottom line is that this controller launching with this name is a good move by Sony.

Technorati Tags: Sony, PS3, Move, Arc, Joystiq, Video Game,

Posted by William Lozito at 8:05 AM
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Posted to Brand Naming | Consumer Electronics | Marketing | Media and Entertainment | Naming | Naming Rights | Technology

The Unfortunate Saga of Risqué Domain Naming and Branding Continues with the Sale of Sex.com

The domain name Sex.com is up for grabs.

That's right, potentially the most expensive domain name in history is in foreclosure and will be sold at auction, with bids starting at a cool $1 million. It was sold for $14 million in 2006, which was a record then until Insure.Com went for $16 million.

I have previously written about how the domain name Sex.com has been poorly managed, and even swindled from previous owners. Now, the story seems to have continued its downward spiral.

It will be sold "as is" in the equivalent of a foreclosure sale and should generate a lot of interest, as it can apparently generate $15,000 of revenue a day if managed correct.

Sex.com is one of the top five most profitable domain names on the web today, the others being Fund.com, Porn.com, Poker.com and Business.com.

The Sex.com domain name has been mismanaged, of course, and is surrounded by clouds of legal skullduggery. It is claimed that one of the previous owners had the name stolen from him, and commenced a ten-year manhunt to find the culprit.

DOM Partners, a New Jersey lender is foreclosing the domain and will auction it on March 18, at the New York law firm, Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf.

Ecoconsultancy has a great post up entitled "Six things you can learn from Sex.com's failure," and number one is: A great domain only goes so far.

I have to agree.

It takes more than a name to make a product or a domain name shine. However, we at Strategic Name Development can say, a great name never hurts.

Technorati Tags: Sex.com, Domain Name, Auction, Ecoconsultancy, Foreclosure,

Posted by William Lozito at 9:34 AM
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Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Licensing | Marketing | Naming | Naming Rights | Sports and Recreation

Movie Naming and Branding: Appealing to Oscar and the Boys

I was amused to see that Disney was changing the name of its new film, Rapunzel, to Tangled in order to attract more boys to the film. Seems that The Princess and the Frog wasn't a big hit with the boys, and Disney fears, probably correctly, that the word "Princess" was to blame.

Because Rapunzel is actually a princess, Disney is worried that this new movie might face the same fate. According to the LA Times, "Disney can ill afford a moniker that alienates half the potential audience, young boys, who are needed to make an expensive family film a success."

They also considered "Unbraided" and "The Thief in the Tower." Good thing they decided on Tangled. I just cannot see how "unbraided" was supposed to appeal to boys.

This will be in 3-D, and I think that the trailer looks pretty good.

Movie naming has been on my mind lately, especially since Kate Torovnick did a great piece on How to Win the Oscar: pick a great name.

She notes that "Grand Hotel", "The Great Ziegfeld" and "From Here to Eternity" were all films with really inspiring names and which won despite the odds. So did "American Beauty" and "Shakespeare in Love," which beat "Saving Private Ryan" in 1999: "Shakespeare sounds instantly classic, and who doesn't like love?"

Torovnick suggests that Precious had the best chance of winning and that "producers should definitely start using more positive adjectives in their film titles."

Okay, Kate, I like your thinking but, remember that The Hurt Locker came out on top. Maybe it actually is about the quality of the film, and a little bit of Oscar politics for good measure.

Technorati Tags: Oscar, Hurt Locker, Rapunzel, name change, Tangled, Precious, movie titles

Posted by William Lozito at 8:05 AM
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Posted to Linguistics | Marketing | Media and Entertainment | Naming | Product Naming

Obama Naming and Branding Losing Luster

All politics aside, the Obama brand name is not helping some businesses.

An article out today looks at the dozen or so Michigan businesses that have used the name to sell everything from pharmaceuticals to realty to auto body repair. And, funnily enough, the President hasn't clamped down on these small business owners, in fact, one of them actually got a friendly call from the White House. Nonetheless, consumers aren't buying it.

The building of the Obama brand, of course, is not new. There are plenty of political analyses out there describing how he used branding to create an excellent image for himself.

However, the appeal of the name seems to flow out of politics, as evidenced by the apparent Israeli love for it.

But now the brand doesn't sell, and that includes political t-shirts with his likeness and name on them. The Obama store in Union Station has been closed.

Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, a book speaking to the evils of branding, wrote last year about how the Obama brand is just another example of how corporate branding has taken over American politics. If that's the case (and I am unsure if it is), then the brand itself is liable to face the same challenges of any other in the marketplace.

I'm not sure what it means when a pharmacy named after Obama decides to change its name to a far more generic Community Health Pharmacy, but I am thinking that the President's brand name equity may be in trouble.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, No Logo, Brand Equity, Branding, Names

Posted by William Lozito at 8:56 AM
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Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Company Naming | Marketing | Naming | Naming Rights | Pharmaceutical | Product Naming