# American product/company names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2001, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152 "2001-07-11T23:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/1 "2001-07-11T23:00:27Z")
I’m not criticising here, please don’t think that. I’ve noticed that over there in the USA, you seem rather fond of deliberately mis-spelling product and company names (i.e. **K** rispy, **K** ool, Chee **z** etc). We do the same here, but I think to a much lesser extent, and probably only in emulation of yourselves anyway. Personally, I find names like this a little embarrassing, but I’m not picking fault, really, I’m just interested as to why it should be so. I’d also be interested to know if you find British company and product names dull or phlegmatic. What is your ‘gut’ reaction to dull product names, as well as you ‘intellectual’ reaction? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/2 "2001-07-11T23:42:00Z")
To my ears, British company names seem horribly pretentious. Just like you don’t see too many “cutsey” misspelled words on your side of the pond, in the States we have very few companies with those oh-so-British-sounding posessive names lacking an apostrophie. Those names often don’t even describe the company, either – it’s just the name alone. Barclays, Dixons, Reuters, Schroders, Alexanders, Lookers, Menzies, Selfridges, and so on … what, is there an apostrophe shortage in the U.K.? The company name can’t describe what those firms actually do? For example, let’s say we have someone named Joe Hammersmith, and he starts a computer company. In the U.S., it might have a name like “Hammersmith Computing,” “HammerTech” or, unfortunately, “Advanced Computing Solutions.” In the U.K., it would probably just be called “Hammersmiths.” If Wal-Mart started in the U.K., folks in Ditchturd, Oklahoma would probably now be flocking to buy garbage bags and cheap clock radios at “Waltons Group PLC.” For large organizations, there’s also the self-centered lack of a country name, as if the U.K. is the _only_ country on the planet. For instance, in North America we have the _American Automobile Association_, but across the Atlantic there’s the _Automobile Association_. Fortunately, the U.K. hasn’t picked up on the “solutions” craze that has hit American corporate nomenclature. The misspelling in company names in the U.S. bothers me somewhat, too, but getting donuts at “Crispy Cream” (which, in the U.K, would probably be called “Rudolphs Group PLC”) just wouldn’t seem the same. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/3 "2001-07-12T00:26:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > (i.e. **K** rispy, **K** ool, Chee **z** etc). Well, spellings like “Cheez” or “Froot” (as in Loops) are mostly to show that the product does not, in fact, contain any actual cheese or fruit. (“Polymer Whiz” doesn’t have the same ring to it, and, as a biology teacher of mine once said, they can’t call them “Crap Loops.”) And I sorta like the “oh-so-British-sounding possive names lacking an apostrophe,” myself… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/4 "2001-07-12T03:50:11Z")
One benefit of deliberately mis-spelled names is that they are easy to find on Internet search engines. Imagine how hard it would be to look for a “Cool Aid” web page. As for the lack of apostrophes (apostrophe’s?) in British company names, is it possible they started out as family businesses, and therefore are plurals not possesives? As in “The Simpsons.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/5 "2001-07-12T08:20:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > **For large organizations, there’s also the self-centered lack of a country name, as if the U.K. is the _only_ country on the planet. For instance, in North America we have the _American Automobile Association_, but across the Atlantic there’s the _Automobile Association_.** This bit made me laugh, no disrespect intended, but it hits me in exactly the **opposite** way; the function is more important than the origin, it’s an Automobile Association, why should I care where it comes from (and if my car breaks down on the way to work, I’d be most surprised indeed if anything **other** than the _British_ Automobile Association came along to help, so the geographical reference is redundant, maybe it’s made necessary to include a geographical reference over there because your land mass is so much larger (although I’d expect it to be a regional reference in that case), or maybe it’s just some British ingrained feeling that we ‘were here first’. Funny that you should read into it the bit about us acting like we’re the only country on the planet, because I’d say that’s the impression that most people here have about Americans (Which starts me thinking that maybe all countries have that kind of mindset). Please, please don’t take offence at anything I’ve written above, I’m trying to be frank, but it isn’t my intention to insult or engender bad feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/6 "2001-07-12T08:25:15Z")
On the other hand, over-formal and pseudo-archaic names over here like ‘The pine emporium’ or ‘J D Wetherspoons purveyors of fine ales’ get _right_ up my nose, probably because they foster the lasting impression that England is stuck in some sort of Charles Dickens world. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/7 "2001-07-12T08:28:08Z")
One reason for using misspelling is to make the claiming of copyright and trademark easier. You can’t (note apostrophe correctly used ;)) easily trademark ‘Cheesy Peas’, but you could with ‘Cheezy Peas’. ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/8 "2001-07-13T02:04:28Z")
Misspelled company names make me worry about the coming generations. Our old “Northern States Power” electric company is now “Xcel Energy,” of all things. They also named the new Minnesota Wild hockey arena Xcel Energy Center (questionable naming rights on stadiums, et. al. should have their own thread!). The old phone company was U.S. West, now they are Qwest. \<\<\ **Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/9 "2001-07-13T03:40:53Z") I can’t really speak to English product names specifically, but when I was working in Italy, I noticed that many product names stuck me as goofy. Then I realized that most product names are goofy, but one doesn’t really notice the goofiness of the particular products one grew up with. A trend I saw in Italy was giving nonsense names to products. Now, I understand that “Pepsi” doesn’t mean anything in particular, but many American products have names that make a (slight) bit of sense. Of course now I can’t think of any … ok, Fudge Stripes are cookies with stripes of chocolate frosting. There’s a somewhat similar chocolate-y cookie in Italy called something like Zoobies. I suspect this is so a company can make Zoobies and sell them in Italy, France, Germany etc. without having to invest in different packaging and/or advertising that translates “Fudge” “Frosting” and “Cookies” into the various languages. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/10 "2001-07-13T04:16:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > > **For large organizations, there’s also the self-centered lack of a country name, as if the U.K. is the _only_ country on the planet. For instance, in North America we have the _American Automobile Association_, but across the Atlantic there’s the _Automobile Association_.** > > This bit made me laugh, no disrespect intended, but it hits me in exactly the **opposite** way; the function is more important than the origin, it’s an Automobile Association, why should I care where it comes from (and if my car breaks down on the way to work, I’d be most surprised indeed if anything **other** than the _British_ Automobile Association came along to help, so the geographical reference is redundant, maybe it’s made necessary to include a geographical reference over there because your land mass is so much larger (although I’d expect it to be a regional reference in that case), or maybe it’s just some British ingrained feeling that we ‘were here first’.\*\* Actually, I get the impression that the **American** in **American Automobile Association** is there to let people know that it is, in fact, a nationwide association (as opposed to several state-specific associations). As such, no matter where in the U.S. one goes, AAA will be there to help (or whatever it is that they do). It would be akin to having a U.K. Automobile Association, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/11 "2001-07-13T06:13:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > **Now, I understand that “Pepsi” doesn’t mean anything in particular…** Maybe not now, but at one time it did. Pepsin (or a word like that) is a substance of some kind that soothes upset stomachs. I believe that when the carbonated cola craze hit the world (OK, it hit America), Coke, Pepsi, and many other similar products were touted as cures for stomach ailments. Rembmer, for the longest time one had to go to a _drug store_ to get a cola drink. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-product-company-names/72152/12 "2001-07-13T08:40:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darwin’s Finch \* > \*\*Actually, I get the impression that the **American** in **American Automobile Association** is there to let people know that it is, in fact, a nationwide association (as opposed to several state-specific associations). As such, no matter where in the U.S. one goes, AAA will be there to help (or whatever it is that they do). It would be akin to having a U.K. Automobile Association, I guess. \*\* I see, but in the UK, I suppose one would make the assumption that ‘ **The** Automobile Association’ refers to a national organisation, otherwise the region would be specified and it would be something like ‘The Automobile Association of Yorkshire’\*. An ingrained cultural detail, probably influenced by land mass I suspect, but I can see that it might come across as annoying. \*Except that for a regional organisation that specifically supports vehicles that can easily and frequently move outside this area, this would quickly become impractical, but that’s another story.