By Alexandra Watkins
Don’t just take it from me that my new book, Hello, My Name is Awesome. is hilarious. Take it from the hilarious host of The Marketing Book Podcast, Douglas Burdett. Doug has read hundreds of business books, many of them while sitting on airplanes. Out of all of those books, only two (TWO!) have caused him to burst out laughing on an airplane. Hello, My Name is Awesome is one of them! On a recent podcast, Doug told me (and thousands of listeners!) that on a flight to Minneapolis, he was reading Awesome and, “I started laughing so hard that people started looking at me. It was one of those things where I felt like I should be quiet because it’s like being in church, but I couldn’t stop laughing.” Thankfully, Doug did not cackle, bark, snort, or giggle uncontrollably while reading my book, but he did startle his nervous seat mate’s therapy ferret.
What’s so funny in the book? A lot! For instance . . .
Domain Name Pain
The web address of American Scrap Metal, americanscrapmetal.com, can be read as “Americans Crap Metal.”
Foreign Flops
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France named Cue, the same name as a notorious French P0RN MAGAZINE.
Domain Name Delights
Greenberg Smoked Turkey, Inc. has the unforgettable URL, GobbleGobble.com.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
When I saw the name SIRIUSXM written in an all-caps headline, I thought it was a new word describing a Siri fetish, not the satellite radio company.
Problematic Pronunciation
When debating the pronunciation of helmet company Giro, members of an online cycling forum suggested, “Gee Row,” “GUY-RO,” “Gy Ro,” “Jeer-oh,” “Jee-ro,” “Jie-Row,” and “Who cares, as long as you can get it with tzatziki sauce.”
Are we having fun yet?
The entire book is filled with page after page of entertaining examples to illustrate best (and worst!) practices for creating memorable brand names. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.
