# Unfortunate product names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565 "2003-07-24T05:37:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/21 "2003-07-25T14:32:24Z")
My breast friend (a pillow to aid in breast feeding) The Ford Probe… marketed to women Ben Gay was always a little odd to me, as in Dutch “ben” means (I) am… ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/22 "2003-07-25T15:10:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tlw \* > \*\*I cannot believe that no one has mentioned the most embarassing product name in history: [Nads](http://www.nads.com/). \*\* I clicked on this thread specifically to mention **Nads**. Oriental markets are great for finding products with funny names. there is Men’s Pocky, which is some sort of chocolate-covered pretzel, IIRC. My favorite, though, was a packet of chicken soup mix that a friend showed me—it was called ‘Cock Soup’. \ ---
**Author:** ![acrossthesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@acrossthesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acrossthesea)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/23 "2003-07-25T16:01:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terrorcotta \* > \*\*I made a quick check of [Engrish.com](http://Engrish.com) for Japanese products trying to use English words and found my favorite: > > 2% Human Water (bottled water) > > plus: > First Kids Aid T-shirts > Homo Soap > Feel Up Magazine > Creme Pain Pastry > Geraid Wild Hair Slime For Men > KaKa Crackers \*\* Haha! Man there’s a whole bunch of ridiculous product names here. All the good ones can be found on the site you mentioned. Two I particularly like are Pocari Sweat and Creap. I will never, ever drink Pocari Sweat. It’s just a sports beverage, but anything with “sweat” in the name is just kind of…yucky. ---
**Author:** ![acrossthesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@acrossthesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acrossthesea)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/24 "2003-07-25T16:04:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lorene \* > \*\*I clicked on this thread specifically to mention **Nads**. > Oriental markets are great for finding products with funny names. there is Men’s Pocky, which is some sort of chocolate-covered pretzel, IIRC. My favorite, though, was a packet of chicken soup mix that a friend showed me—it was called ‘Cock Soup’. \ \*\* I saw the Nads infomercial in like, 1999 with one of my friends and we SWORE it was fake. I know now that it isn’t, which is just even funnier, because how could it be real? Esp. if you ever saw that infomercial…it was great. I’ve had Men’s Pocky, even though I am not a man. It’s very good, considering. Another kind of pocky is called Fran. That too is just a sort of odd name for a food… Oh, and a restaurant near where I live serves something called “American hamburg”. It’s a hamburger. Oddly, they refuse to sell it to Americans. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/25 "2003-07-25T21:44:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tlw \* > \*\*I cannot believe that no one has mentioned the most embarassing product name in history: [Nads](http://www.nads.com/). \*\* As the website shows, the correct spelling is Nad’s, not Nads. That must mean it is named after someone named Nad or made by a Nad, which is even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/26 "2003-07-25T22:51:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > \*\*As the website shows, the correct spelling is Nad’s, not Nads. That must mean it is named after someone named Nad or made by a Nad, which is even worse. \*\* I bought some once. Didn’t work well for me, so I gave it to a friend. The packaging said something about it being named for the inventor’s daughter Nadine. I think they were Australian. I did enjoy telling people I couldn’t do anything on Saturday because I was staying home to rub nads all over my legs. ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/27 "2003-07-26T02:16:37Z")
This has GOT to be the worst of all time. [![](http://theimaginaryworld.com/milto01.jpg) ](http://theimaginaryworld.com/milto01.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/28 "2003-07-26T02:34:56Z")
Anyone remember the Reebok Incubus women’s running shoe? Use a dictionary, folks… And I remember seeing the Ayds diet pills at the local drugstore right when AIDS was beginning to get noticed by the general public. At least the diet pills were named prior to the disease, so you can’t blame marketers as above. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/29 "2003-07-26T02:37:03Z")
Whoops… **Cholo** beat me to the punch with the picture of Ayds; however, I remember when they were much more modern looking than that. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/30 "2003-07-26T02:52:31Z")
Back in the 1930s, Q-Tips were called **Baby Gays**. ---
**Author:** ![Monza305](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Monza305](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monza305)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/31 "2003-07-26T03:12:30Z")
I’ve been seeing a lot of billboard ads here in Michigan (not sure how wide spread they are) selling “recycled water”. The brand name is Outhouse Springs. They use slogans like “It’s number 1, not 2”, and “L, M, N, O…” I don’t know who the marketing genius is who thought of this one. Naming water Outhouse springs, and elluding to piss doesn’t make me want to go out and buy their “water”. ---
**Author:** ![mescman18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mescman18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mescman18)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/32 "2003-07-26T03:48:04Z")
best one I’ve seen was for some kind of grease that goes on a fishing rod for some reason it was called “slick butt” underneath it said "_Slides easily in and out of rod holders for fast action_ " is it just me or is this just wrong!? ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/33 "2003-07-27T21:39:50Z")
I just saw this one on the TV. A CD of country music by women called **Queens of Country** Yeah a couple of thos ladies looked like drag queens all right. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/34 "2003-07-28T12:59:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monza305 \* > \*\*I’ve been seeing a lot of billboard ads here in Michigan (not sure how wide spread they are) selling “recycled water”. The brand name is Outhouse Springs. They use slogans like “It’s number 1, not 2”, and “L, M, N, O…” I don’t know who the marketing genius is who thought of this one. Naming water Outhouse springs, and elluding to piss doesn’t make me want to go out and buy their “water”. \*\* Yeah, those billboards are funny, but they’re just a scheme to market guess what…billboards! ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/35 "2003-07-28T13:25:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Francesca \* > \*\*If your company’s name is Powergen and you open up a branch in Italy, you might want to think twice about your URL: > > **[www.powergenitalia.com](http://www.powergenitalia.com)** \*\* Snopes says [not quite](http://www.snopes.com/business/names/powergen.asp). The rumor originally went around about the UK power company known as Powergen. In truth, the company which owns the domain (homepage [here](http://www.powergenitalia.com/inglese/HomeengFrame.html)) is actually NAMED Powergen Italia. They’re based IN Italy. So I guess it’s even MORE of an unfortunate name. ---
**Author:** ![Moeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@Moeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moeman)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/36 "2003-07-28T18:55:11Z")
The candy named menstrels. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/37 "2003-07-28T21:36:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cholo \* > \*\*This has GOT to be the worst of all time. > > [http://theimaginaryworld.com/milto01.jpg](http://theimaginaryworld.com/milto01.jpg) \*\* OMG! My mom used to use those in the '70’s. They were actually quite tasty! Chocolatey and chewy. Kind of like Space Food Sticks. And I can’t believe no one thought of Wang computers! LOL!!! ---
**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 29, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/38 "2003-07-29T01:46:48Z")
Various laundry products of the Paxan Company in Iran are marketed under the brand name **[Barf](http://www.iranfair.am/PAXAN.jpg)**. The label for Barf laundry detergent reads: \*Use Barf for washing silk clothes, cottons, nylons and wools. Barf washes dishes, tiles and bath accessories. To obtain best results, soak very dirty clothes in a solution of Barf for a few minutes and then proceed normally." WARNING: Do not wash hands, face and body in Barf. Do not use Barf to wash food materials. Keep Barf out of the reach of children.\* Is **Darkie Toothpaste** still made? What about **666 Cough Medicine**? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/39 "2003-07-29T02:39:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > \*\*I like the candy bar Mr. Big. They still sell them in certain places. > > It’s some huge choclate bar and it’s slogan is “when you’re this {b}ig, they call you Mr.” \*\* One of those places is Canada. Quite a fine chocolate bar, as a matter of fact. It has a kind of tangy creamy biscuit in the middle that tastes great with the chocolate and peanuts around it. In fact, I think I’ll go buy one tomorrow. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565/40 "2003-07-29T03:00:58Z")
I’ve had Darkie Toothpaste in the house as recently as a year ago. Grinning mascot and all. WTF? In the same room, one of my housemates buys [Canus Hand Soap](http://www.canusgoatsmilk.com/). Whenever I’m brushing my teeth, I stare down at the bar, and can’t _quite_ decide what bugs me more-- the appearance that it’s a misspelling of _CANIS_, or that fragmentary _ANUS_. Neither one really screams “clean” to me. Yesterday, I noticed some frozen chicken breasts with a company name that turned my head. The name, I guess, is unremarkable, but their marketing people had the misfortune to use the same colour scheme and typeface for their logo as [another organization with the same name](http://jdw.janes.com/). I was tempted to buy the package just to scan it in and photoshop some military hardware into it, but it was $15, and I don’t eat chickens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-product-names/190565.md?page=3)