IKEA Baby Names, No Assembly Required
The furniture giant’s baby name catalog is a marketing triumph. But what about the names?
From Brandy to Sativa: A Timeline of Intoxicating Baby Names
Intoxicants and baby names may seem an unlikely match. But name trends reflect society, and there’s no denying that alcohol and drugs are a big and ever-changing part of our culture. When name style, pop culture and liquor/drug trends coincide, it can be a potent fashion combination. Take a tour […]
Brand Curse: The Name Jemima in America
This week the Aunt Jemima pancake brand name was “retired,” bringing an end to a 131-year advertising minstrel show. The brand’s current owner, Quaker, finally bowed to the reality that no cosmetic makeover could rehabilitate a character, and business, built on a romanticized fantasy of owning human beings as property. […]
How Alexa the Product Conquered Alexa the Name
Amazon put us on a collision course. Not that we couldn’t see it coming—Apple’s Siri had sent early-warning signals years before. With Amazon’s “virtual assistant” Alexa, though, there was no escape. Human names and virtual names met head on, and the human names blinked. Alexa was America’s fastest-falling baby name […]
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