The Weather Channel has named the nor’easter winter storm that's now bringing snow to New York City and environs after the Greek goddess-inspired Athena. The all-weather, all the time brands admits it's a ploy to bring attention (and own the conversation) about the post-Hurricane Sandy ice storm that's threatening to blanket gloom on those relief efforts. 

“Without Sandy, we may not have named this storm," the Weather Channel admits. "However, one of our main reasons for naming events is societal impact. With so many people still under recovery efforts — even well inland — the combination of heavy, wet snow and wind prompted the decision to name this storm.”

The U.S. National Weather Service, however, isn't impressed. It's refusing to acknowledge or condone Athena — or any other storm names emanating from Weather Channel HQ in Atlanta.Continue reading...

With more than 250 million folks on Facebook, at least a few of them are likely to be bikers, and Harley-Davidson fans, so one of them thought he'd launch a community for his fellow Harley-heads.

That's what inspired Harley brand loyalist Jimmy Coulbourne to start a social network for bikers and named it HarleySpace.com in honor of the bike they all love to ride.

Well, the Milwaukee-based company was not a big fan of that move. They took the issue to court and now the 36-year-old Coulbourne has changed the name of the site to IronRides.com, though he’s not very happy about it. 

"They said I was trying to profit off their name," Coulbourne said, according to the York Daily Record. "HarleySpace isn't their name. It's Harley-Davidson. If they think they own HarleySpace, why didn't they own HarleySpace?"Continue reading...

When a major brand names a new product, there usually is a boatload of research that goes into it: Focus groups, consultants, that sort of thing. But Nike appears to have skipped a few steps (or somebody didn’t do their homework) because they managed to release a new shoe last week that enraged pretty much the whole country of Ireland.

Released in the lead-up to St. Patrick's Day, Nike's new Dunk Low sneaks are nicknamed “Black and Tan,” in honor of the great Guinness Stout and "half and half" Guinness mix concoctions. The shoes, accordingly, have black and tan in the design and the image of a Guiness-inspired pint glass on the shoe's insole.

Unfortunately for the shoe giant, as the Guardian points out, "Black and Tan" also evokes a less happy association for the Irish. It's the nickname for “the violent British paramilitary unit, the Royal Irish Constabulary reserve force, that conducted brutal reprisals during the early 1920s Irish Independence Wars, including the atrocities of Bloody Sunday.”Continue reading...

Sure, you’ve been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and watched floats glide by and walked the thronged streets afterward with a Hurricane in your hand and your beads around your neck and stopped in to hear “St. James Infirmary” from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band yet again.

While you may have seen a lot of things in N'awlins, you probably haven’t seen a Mardi Gras parade that has you looking down toward the ground instead of up at the incredible work floating by.

For the last three years, a so-called micro-krewe called 'tit Rex (short for 'Petit Rex,' it's pronounced "tea rex" and a pun on the dinosaur name) has put on a lovely walking parade of gorgeous floats made from shoeboxes that beautifully mimic the full-size ones you’ve seen elsewhere in the city.

The floats' designers and artists walk proudly by their creations to be sure they stay on course and don’t get destroyed.

The humble 'tit Rex Krewe has a problem, though. The Rex Organization, one of the city’s biggest Mardi Gras krewes, has all the rights to the word “Rex” in association with the event — and they're not flattered at having a mini-me using their name.

According to The Times-Picayune, Rex wants the walking krewe to ditch its name pronto, before the next Mardi Gras rolls around.Continue reading...

Whether you are looking for or trying to avoid pornographic material on the Internet, the .xxx domain name that’ll kick off publicly next year will certainly help you travel whichever path you’ve chosen.

But before ICM Registry, the company in charge of the domain launch, opens up its doors for any Dick and Jane to register whatever website URL names he or she can dream up, it is asking for companies to pre-register names or apply to block registry of their brands, according to the Washington Post.

The domain name registrar even took out full-page ads in the Los Angeles Times and Financial Times this week to promote the launch of .xxx.Continue reading...

Everybody is hurting for cash — even the largest city in Canada.

Last week, Toronto politicians were presented with a proposal to “revise and ramp up its corporate naming and sponsorship efforts,” according to the Toronto Star.

The city’s budget committee had asked for the report this past January. In the report, the authors point out that Calgary, Winnipeg, Chicago, and New York “proactively solicit offers to buy naming rights,” the Star reports.

Toronto currently only has a few named spaces, including Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, the Franklin Children’s Garden at Centre Island, and the BMO Field soccer stadium. In March, an offer to rename the city hall "Tigits Hall" made the local news — alarming residents in the process.Continue reading...

Americans have the reputation of being lawsuit-happy, but it seems like the French might be catching up. Luckily for Renault and any company wishing to give a brand a person’s name, justice has prevailed.

A French judge has thrown out a suit from Lawyer David Koubbi on behalf of two girls named Zoe Renault (ages 2 and 8) that Renault naming its new electric car Zoe would cause them harm from teasing and name-calling. And not only them, but the other 35,000 Zoes in France as well. Talk about a class-less action suit!

"Can you imagine what little Zoes would have to endure on the playground, and even worse, when they get a little bit older and someone comes up to them in a bar and says, 'Can I see your air bags?' or 'Can I shine your bumper?'" Koubbi told The Associated Press. Hence the Gallic gall of the suit. But the judge ruled that parents would have a case only if they proved the car name would cause the girls "certain, direct and current harm."Continue reading...

The Chicago Blackhawks could win the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup tonight, when it faces the Philadelphia Flyers. One of these teams boasts a name and logo that many find insulting and insensitive. Can you guess which one?

A sports columnist at The Star sums up the possible hockey champion's branding problem: "At a time when sports leagues and schools around North America are either debating the dubious value of having native peoples used as mascots and nicknames or getting rid of those mascots and nicknames entirely, the NHL and the Chicago Blackhawks seem awfully casual about it, supremely confident that no one will dare question the racial sensitivity of the large aboriginal likeness that serves as the logo of the hockey club."Continue reading...