Line #14 Main/AbsurdBrandName


1	%% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
2	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=768ocibx
3	%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
4
5	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sexburger.png]]]]
6
7	In RealLife, brand and store chain names are generally the product of expensive research to find something that is both memorable and has positive connotations to prospective buyers. In fiction, these are often used to color the reader's perception of the world or the company marketing it, or make a joke. So they may have names that are sinister, blatantly cold and corporate, or funny in a way no company would want their product names to be. Can also involve FunWithAcronyms if it spells out something funny or ridiculous, or TheProblemWithPenIsland if it's easy to mispronounce in a funny or lewd way. Or InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike, when a brand name that's fine in one language creates problems cross-culturally.
8
9	It's not uncommon for this to be a BlandNameProduct intended to dig at the original. Compare OurProductSucks and OurSloganIsTerrible for when it's just a single product or a slogan that's presented as bad, respectively. Doing this by accident in RealLife is known as a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_blunder brand blunder.]]
10
11	Note that this can apply to things that are not strictly brands, but which may use their name to "sell" themselves, such as the names of dishes at a restaurant, a charitable organization, or a political cause.
12
13	May involve a DoubleEntendre, InherentlyFunnyWords, or a WordSaladTitle. See also IntentionallyAwkwardTitle, which isn't so much absurd as inappropriate for polite company.
14
15	'''NOTE:''' The RealLife section should only have examples where this was ''intentionally'' invoked as a gimmick. As [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_blunder the article on Wikipedia]] shows, there are far too many inadvertent examples to list, and whether a brand name is bad is often in the eye of the beholder.
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Comic Books]]
21	* The 25th-anniversary special of ComicBook/{{Superlopez}} introduces a restaurant known as the "Salmo-Nella Ristorante". It is not clarified whether this was deliberate on the owners' part, but it is not entirely out of the question, as the restaurant was set up as a front by several members of Super's RoguesGallery; yet, judging by a remark by Lady Araña, the business seems to be going surprisingly well.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Fan Fics]]
25	* ''Fanfic/ShipsAhoy'': When Yucks Shmumbers and Oprah manage to invent the juice box, Yucks expresses her plans to put them on the market under the name "Yucks Boxes". Oprah makes a mental note to inform her that she should use her last name instead.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Film]]
29	* ''Film/RoboCop1987'': There's a commercial advertising a huge car with terrible mileage called the "6000 SUX", mocking the Pontiac 6000.
30	* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': The Maroon Cartoon [[ShowWithinAShow "Something's Cookin'"]] prominently features a Hotternell [[labelnote:*]]a pun on "hotter than Hell"[[/labelnote]] oven and an [[AcmeProducts Acme]] Suck-O-Lux vacuum cleaner as slapstick props.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Literature]]
34	* ''Literature/DirtyBertie'': In one story, the foods at a restaurant are named unappetizing things like "chicken on a bed of goop".
35	* In the ''Literature/WandaLinda'' books, the cereals have unappealing names like Crinkly Odd Stuff and Crispy Little Things.
36	* The world of ''Literature/{{Parahumans}}'' has the chain restaurants "Fugly Bob's" and "Roadkill", both sounding uninviting or unsanitary.
37	* In the ''Literature/{{Otherverse}}'', brand names skew towards grossness or sexual innuendo. The soda brand "Gushing Granny Apple" and the restaurant "Yeast Infection" fall into both categories.
38	* ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', has Dave visiting a restaurant that went through several owners, each rebranding it somehow -- the latest name? "''Eat's''".
39	* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'':
40	** Hermione makes an organisation called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, but [[EmbarrassingInitials that abbreviates to SPEW]]. Ron is more than happy to refer to it by its initials, much to Hermione's chagrin.
41	** When the trio talks about the goblins at one point, Ron mockingly asks Hermione whether she would start an organization called "Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins" (or S.P.U.G. for short). Hermione is not amused.
42	--->'''Hermione''': [[SarcasmMode Ha, ha, ha.]] Goblins don't need protection. [...] Well, they're quite capable of dealing with wizards. They're very clever. They're not like house-elves, who never stick up for themselves.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46	* ''Series/TheMiddleman'' featured an energy drink whose name was TheUnpronouncable, known as "''''!!!!''''", which characters pronounced by doing jazz hands, stomping, and making an enthusiastic face.
47	* An iconic ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' skit involved a pair of Creator/{{NPR}} hosts commenting on some confectioneries brought on by a baker. The baker's name was Pete Schweddy, and the food? Schweddy Balls.
48	* ''Series/PeepShow'': Jeremy and Super Hans are opening a pub, and want to stand out over the generic pubs in the area, but Jeremy is not enthusiastic about Super Hans' suggestion of "Free The Paedophiles" as a name for the pub.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder: Podcasts]]
52	* ''Podcast/BrainLeak'': Played straight as the sponsor is legitimately called [[nuts.com Nuts.com]], but PlayedForLaughs considering Ethan has a severe nut allergy.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
56	* ''Series/SesameStreet'': One "Ernie and Bert" skit has Bert reading a book called ''Boring Stories''.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
60	* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': There are many brands that make you wonder what the marketing department was smoking. Examples include a sleep med called [=ComaDoze=], the mobile medical service [=DocWagon=], and the Stuffer Shack convenience store chain.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Video Games]]
64	* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'': At one point you have to use a "U-SUCK" brand vacuum.
65	* ''Videogame/GrandTheftAuto'': Almost 100% of the brand names are jokes. You have the Maibatsu Monstrosity SUV, [=TransFender=] auto body shop, and Give 'Em Boners pet food, among hundreds of others.
66	* ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'': The evil corporations manufacture products such as Butt-Flo laxative, Headburn shampoo, and Gum Rot artificial sweetener.
67	* Games in the original ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series from ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' onwards call the location where you get your vehicles customized "Rim Jobs".
68	* ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'': There's a burger chain called Sexburger.
69	* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'': A few of the foodstuffs were called gross things like Scummi Bears, Lolliplops, Barfmellows, Essence of Gloop, etc.
70	* Spoofed in ''VideoGame/SeventySevenPEggwife'', a "crass and disgusting" (per the developer's words) FPS parody, with obscene, disgusting fictional parodies for real-life brands. Notably, there's a Toblerone parody called Chocolatoboner, and a Tesco expy called '''Piss'''co.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Web Video]]
74	* ''WebVideo/{{Caddicarus}}'' features a gag in the episode where Caddy covers a series of game reviews from the 1990s that have been renamed to "Series/GamingInTheClintonYears" where he says the acronym, "GITCY", sounds like a "Russian fizzy drink".
75	-->'''Caddy:''' ''(speaking with a Russian accent)'' Gitcy: it's good for your spleen!
76	* In the online AnimatedMusicVideo "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZBMKtOIy4 What's the Matter, Martha?]]", Martha eats a type of cereal called "Meh Os".
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', a roller coaster seen primarily in Season 1 is named the Stomach Destroyer. Later seasons phased it out, possibly due to the unappealing name.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'':
82	** Sam & Ella's Coffee Shop (Salmonella), furthered by the last part of their jingle "Then the only thing that's left to do is head to the potty and spew spew spew! Sam & Ella's!"
83	** Smelloggs breakfast cereals. (Including tie-in product Branimaniacs)
84	** {{Discussed\|Trope}} in one Pinky and the Brain segment, "[[DumbassHasAPoint I think so, Brain, but if they called them 'Sad Meals', kids wouldn't buy them.]]"
85	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': In "[[Recap/ArthurS1E4DWsImaginaryFriendArthursLostLibraryBook D.W.'s Imaginary Friend]]", a carnival ride is called the "Hurl-a-Whirl" (parody of the common Tilt-a-Whirl, with the implication that you'll throw up afterwards).
86	* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has a chain restaurant called "Nasty Burger"; its marketing slogan is apparently "Only one letter away from tasty!".
87	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}}'', the company is planning to unveil a new product, but are having a devil of a time finding a name for the product that isn't already trademarked, and thus are forced to trademark the name "Gruntmaster".
88	* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': The main conflict in "Say It Isn't Sew" revolves around Bloo wanting to ride a roller coaster at the fair known as the "Vomit Comet".
89	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
90	** There's parody of Twitter in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E3AttackOfTheKillerApp Attack of the Killer App]]," called "Twitcher", with its equivalent to "Tweets" being known as "Twits."
91	** {{Subverted\|Trope}} in "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E15TheProblemWithPopplers The Problem with Popplers]]", when Bender wants to name the new foodstuff "tasticles" (because they're tasty) but everyone else vetoes it because [[BaitAndSwitch it sounds too much like something else...namely a brand of]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_oysters Rocky Mountain oysters]] on a stick (test-cicles).
92	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': When Grunkle Stan recounts his backstory he describes some of the corner-cutting business ventures he tried before devolving into full-blown conman. One of them was a knockoff Shamwow, called the "Sham Total", with the tagline "it's a total sham". Surprisingly people ''did'' actually buy it, but they chased him out of town once they realized the cheap dye he used created more messes than it cleaned. After that, he started selling easy-to-remove band-aids that he dubbed "The Ripoff", which [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial definitely won't give you rashes.]]
93	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': One burger joint is called the Burpin' Burger and the jingle mentions "When it comes back up [i.e. makes you burp], it's twice as nice."
94	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "Roller Cowards" has [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick attempt to [[BraveTheRidePlot gain enough guts to ride a new roller coaster at Glove World]]. Said coaster is called the Fiery Fist O' Pain, and its advertising does not shy away from how much it lives up to its name:
95	-->'''TV Announcer''': It's ''big!'' It's ''fast!'' It's ''painful!''
96	* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': One episode has the team visit the Earl of Sandwich as he invents his namesake dish, only he wants to call it Stinky Pile of Poo; it was his mother's maiden name.
97	* In "The Gift" from ''WesternAnimation/TimothyGoesToSchool'', Nora foregoes her favorite cereal in favor of a brand called Weeds and Seeds in order to get the FreePrizeAtTheBottom to give to Yoko as a birthday gift, then is disappointed when it isn't what she expected.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Real Life]]
101	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_Soda OK Soda]] was an invoked case of this by Coca-Cola, an attempt to connect with Generation X's perceived cynicism and disillusionment. It sported intentionally terrible marketing slogans and art on the cans. It utterly flopped, never making it out of the test market phase.
102	* [[https://liquiddeath.com/ Liquid Death]] canned water ("Murder Your Thirst") is another deliberate attempt at this that has had much better success, probably because it ditched the unmitigated cynicism of OK Soda.
103	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ass_Fans Big Ass Fans]] is a manufacturer of large industrial fans, using a donkey as the logo. The name originated as a marketing campaign by HVLS Fan Company, which was successful enough that the company renamed itself. Despite many finding the name amusing, it has also been met with protests and complaints, advertisements getting declined, and returned mail.
104	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IHOP IHOP]], the International House of Pancakes, announced in June 2018 they were changing their name to [=IHOb=] (International House of Burgers, which while not absurd without context, the fact that they are way more famous for breakfast makes it so), leaving the internet flabbergasted and slightly enraged. While using the name for marketing, the signs stayed the same for six months before they flat out said that yes, this was a promotional stunt to get people to buy their burgers.
105	* [[https://malkorganics.com/ Malk]] zig-zags this; they sell nondairy plant-based milk-like beverages, but they seem to be deliberately referencing ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', whose in-universe "malk" has no nutritional benefits at all...
106	[[/folder]]

Context Main / AbsurdBrandName