# Unfortunate/worst branding ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383 "2008-11-18T23:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/41 "2008-11-19T20:02:18Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Where is the reference to Vonage on the linked page? > > -Kris It’s above the Arlington Pediatric Care, but I think it might be a real ad, mixed in with the others. I’ll bet you see something different. Well the V with the blue dot above it (now) looks like a women with her legs up in the air. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/42 "2008-11-19T20:16:01Z")
When Compaq bought Tandem we wondered if they would be called Comdem or Tampaq. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/43 "2008-11-19T20:20:44Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > It’s above the Arlington Pediatric Care, but I think it might be a real ad, mixed in with the others. I’ll bet you see something different. Well the V with the blue dot above it (now) looks like a women with her legs up in the air. Wierd, I get no ad at all in the spot you’re talking about. Oh well, I went and looked at their logo at their website. I guess I can see it. 😛 -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/44 "2008-11-19T20:34:35Z")
How about “Nads” hair removal? ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/45 "2008-11-19T20:46:55Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > I have a photo of an outdoor ad for a food called a “faggot”. It’s evidently some kind of meatball. The company was “Brains”. In big letters it says: > > “It takes Brains to make faggots so full of pork!” Oh, lord. That one almost killed me. RR ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/46 "2008-11-19T20:53:22Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > How about “Nads” hair removal? Really! I remember watching the infomercial for this when it was first introduced and them saying that the product was named for the inventor’s daughter Nadine. I can imagine what it was like, cheering HER on in school competitions: “Go NADS!!” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/47 "2008-11-20T13:24:44Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I have a friend that lives in [Masturbate, WI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaCrosse,_WI), I still remind her of it from time to time. What am I missing about “La Crosse”? ---
**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:** [November 20, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/48 "2008-11-20T14:38:26Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What am I missing about “La Crosse”? It’s Quebécois slang for wanking. (Who knows that in Winsconsin?) ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/49 "2008-11-20T15:11:55Z")
How about [Bimbo](http://www.bimbobakeriesusa.com/bbu_brands/bimbo/)bakeries? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/50 "2008-11-20T15:54:48Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > It’s Quebécois slang for wanking. (Who knows that in Winsconsin?) About a month before the car came out it was mentioned on the news, otherwise no one would have known it. But since a friend of mine that lives in La Crosse it always kinda stuck with me. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/51 "2008-11-20T16:16:54Z")
How about the Mitsubishi? Pajero? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/52 "2008-11-20T19:45:04Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > How about [Bimbo](http://www.bimbobakeriesusa.com/bbu_brands/bimbo/)bakeries? It’s actually pronounced Beembo, but yeah, you’re right, it looks pretty funny in print and on packaging and on really big trucks! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/53 "2008-11-20T19:58:28Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > A restaurant has in town has a sandwich called the hummer. I hate saying “Yes, I’ll have a hummer.” > > ETA, here’s the menu description > BTW I recommend it if you ever get to Milwaukee. At Alice Cooperstown restaurant in downtown Phoenix (owned by Alice Cooper), they have a giant hotdog named Randy Johnson’s Big Unit, named after the the 6’10" baseball player. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/54 "2008-11-20T20:01:31Z")
**CRAP** – the name of the Conservative Reform Alliance Party, which was chosen when the Canadian Conservative party merged with some brethern further to the right. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/55 "2008-11-20T20:06:47Z")
This probably qualifies as “colorful” instead of “unfortunate”, but Service Supply Co. of Indianapolis (which sells hardware supplies) calls itself “The House Of A Million Screws”. The slogan appears (or used to appear) on the cover of their catalog, which is very impressive. I don’t know if Eric Burdon recorded a jingle for them, but he should have. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/56 "2008-11-20T20:13:15Z")
Oh, I forgot a local one. In the town I grew up in there was a dry cleaner called Johnson Cleaners. They must’ve had some sense of humor about themselves, because they sold tshirts with a guy with his pants around his ankles on them that said “Drop Your Pants at Johnson Cleaners.” There was another angle I don’t think they thought of - or at least they didn’t know how to react, when my friend and I called and asked how much it would cost to get our johnsons cleaned. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/57 "2008-11-20T20:17:54Z")
I always thought the “cavalier” was one of the all time worst-named cars in history. Did they not notice that a secondary, but still very common meaning of the word was “careless?” At Chevy, we’re cavalier about quality! In more recent car-naming fiascos, the Chevy “crossfire.” It could mean an engine malfunction OR a deadly spray of bullets. I can’t really think of the meaning of the word that _isn’t_ something horrible. Just remember folks - don’t get killed in the crossfire! ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/58 "2008-11-20T20:22:49Z")
There was also the Chevy Citation, although maybe they were impying that it was speedy. I always sort of wondered about the Toyota Cressida, too. Not exactly good implications connected with that name. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/59 "2008-11-20T20:34:24Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > In more recent car-naming fiascos, the Chevy “crossfire.” […] Just remember folks - don’t get killed in the crossfire! Why not just go direct and drive a KIA? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/60 "2008-11-20T20:50:40Z")
There’s the prototype for GM’s [first electric car](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1), which was called the Impact. :dubious: Not my idea of a good car name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383.md?page=4)