The 50 best business names that are puns.

May the debate on Apple and religion continue. From Sunday Mass to Sunday Mac. Communion to Computer. All Mighty God to All Mighty Mouse. Eve’s real Apple. Circulating discussions about Appelism, the Apple Church, and various other religious exchanges on the overall Apple faith merely scratch the surface of an increasingly monopolistic Apple Inc. kingdom to sweep the Altars.

It is safe to note that Apple Inc., at the forefront of the digital world, continues to redefine “sacred time” — keeping designers, video monkeys and other creative worker bees at their office cubes working those iApps on their iMacs, with the iTunes from their iPods ringing in their iEars, occassionally interrupted by calls on their iPhones with their little iFingers clicking-beeping-tapping-buzzing-chatting away in their own little iWorld created by some iGod.

One can only imagine the iChurch, iCar, iFood, and then of course the line of pharmaceutical iDrugs to cure the iPsycho, iCrazy, iLost, iConfused illnesses.

But we’re not complaining. We’ve already drunketh from the grail of iCoolAid. Cheers.

P.B. Loco admits they’re crazy up front with peanut butter a la curry, sun-dried tomato, and sun-ripened apricot, to name a few. Marketing themselves as the ‘Adult Peanut Butter’ P.B. Loco explores mature ways to incorporate peanut butter into a grown up diet.

Enjoy P.B. Loco in a variety of gourmet dishes like chicken satay and shrimp stirfry. These food folks were the kids in grade school who dipped their Cheetos in chocolate pudding, pretzels in yogurt, and now mix drinks while they cook. Not yet in California, P.B. Loco is inevitably bound for the SF kitchen crazies. P.B. Loco, P.B. Loco, P.B. Loco!

This is the first and only certified site to register and receive a “Certificate of Authenticity” of ownership of your wang name.

Great names are still available. Register now!

This blog post is not sponsored by

Illinois bank changes their name from First State to Legence to avoid being 1 of 20 million other “First State” related hits upon web search results. Commenting on the identity crisis and strategy to regain attention with the rename, bank president Kevin Beckemeyer says, “A business needs to be top in the mind and heart of its customers, not one in millions sharing the same name or a similar name, Beckemeyer said.”

Fun search facts:

• Total Google Search results for First State Bank 22,500,00
• Total Google Search results for Legence Bank 184

How memorable is a name like Legence for a bank, especially being a name close to “Legend” where search results for ‘Legend Bank’ round off at 21 million hits? Or is it pronounced “Leg-ence”, as in “leg essence”? A bank willing to Show a Little Leg? A Leg Up on the competition? Or just another case of Restless Legence Syndrome?

Dove. Smooth, creamy, soft, nourishing Dove. Good for you. Makes you feel good. Which Dove? The chocolate or the soap? Maybe you are a bit frazzled by a flash of thought that you’ve been in the dark about Dove being both skin care and chocolate? Only now, years after the products hit the market, you’ve had this revelation. Don’t be fooled. It’s simply a perfect example of how two polar products/companies, both high profile, co-exist within the same market venue. From a naming standpoint, we pose the question, is this naming affair a healthy risk or flat out confusing? And how will it effect the overall brand identity of each product?

The Dove (skin care) campaign for “Real Beauty” has certainly not gone awry. Since the campaign broke ground in 2004, promoting a healthy, realistic female physique, emerging skin care products have been launched under the same campaign, keeping Dove among household must-haves.

Tiptoeing in the steps of Dove skincare, comes “Dove Beautiful” for healthy skin (that’s Dove chocolate, not Dove skincare). Oh really? (In marches the editorial portion of the SN post) So did Dove and Dove team up? …Now promoting more average bodies, (aka not skinny) we ought to force feed some chocolate onto all these beautiful ‘real’ bodies and see how real Dove skin care holds up their end. Funny, Dove chocolates are a product manufactured by Mars, who by the way is pushing the ‘healthy lifestyle’ aspect of Dove Chocolates, and all of their chocolates; the same. I can’t wait for Hostess to come out with a line of ‘healthy lifestyle Ho Hos’ followed Suave’s shampoo campaign supporting frizzy hair because it’s natural and real beauty.

There are several arguments here. Although a few digs are being passed at both ‘healthy lifestyle’ campaigns, the debate is really about how both Dove and Dove intend to speak to the same audience, essentially conveying the same message, with very similar identity, and oh, one more thing, the same exact name. Ladies, eat the chocolate, and apply the lotions. As gluttons for beauty it’s a win-win situation.

Now that you’re hot to go, prepare yourself for this major re-naming news:

Blue Sky Logistics Changes Name To Blue Sky Technologies

June 2, 2008

Blue Sky Logistics, Inc., a real-time supply chain visibility software provider, has changed its name to Blue Sky Technologies, Inc. The name change is expected to help shippers better identify the company’s role in the supply chain marketplace.

“With the word ‘logistics’ as part of our name, we found ourselves often being confused with being a third-party logistics provider or 3PL”, explains Steve Hensley, president, Blue Sky Technologies, Inc. “We would get phone calls for moving truckloads from point A to point B or we would get asked to manage a warehouse for a potential client. These are not our core competencies. Since our role is to help customers though visibility dashboard technology to better leverage their existing investments in supply chain infrastructure, changing the name seemed like the logical thing to do.”

It’s always nice when ditching the name “Logistics” is seen as the “logical” thing to do, and in this case a belated admission that the name “Logistics” is illogical, which is the only logical conclusion. And we couldn’t agree more that it is soooooo annoying to get calls for moving truckloads from point A to point B, as we have long-since moved to a Points L, Y and N moving strategy. Such are the logistics of the naming racket.

A bold, risky move this name change. So how has it played out in the marketplace?

“The reaction from our customers to the name change has been very favorable,” added Hensley, “They agreed that the new name better describes the solutions that we offer in bringing dashboard methodology to supply chain visibility. For these customers, we have helped them get additional value from current investments in their supply chain rather than scrapping what they had and start over. Our objective is to always help clients find fresh use of the assets they already have in place.”

We too are always working to help our clients find fresh use of their assets, so we couldn’t agree more.

For those of you keeping score at home, here is a synopsis of this breaking news: A non third-party real-time supply chain logistics solutions technologies provider with core competencies of leveraging visibility dashboard technology to bring dashboard methodology to supply chain visibility has logically jettisoned “Logistics” from its name to avoid being confused with third-party 3PLs. Got it?

Thanks to Logistics Online, “A VertMarkets Marketplace for Industry Professionals”, for bringing us the Blue Sky press release. I bet you didn’t even know there was a “VertMarkets Marketplace” out there, did you?

Case study.

Apparently, there is a country called “Croatia”. Why they exist is a mystery. But we are big there.

From “The Land of The Grudge” (with pics of some Igor staffers):

Jay Jurisich radi u San Franciscu i me?u najboljim je stru?njacima za brendove. Jutarnjem je otkrio što je danas presudno za poslovni uspjeh te zašto ?e neke hrvatske tvrtke uvijek ostati samo regionalneSve je u imenu. Za jedan brend ništa nije toliko važno kao ime”, poslovna je filozofija Jaya Jurisicha koji je s tom krilaticom prije šest godina s kolegom Steveom Manningom u San Franciscu osnovao kompaniju Igor koja se bavi vjerojatno najzabavnijim, ali prili?no unosnim poslom u svijetu biznisa.

Complete article

.. but they still can’t name to save their ass.

However, that is a nice pic of Anthony Shore on the hompage. And as hard as it is to believe ladies, he is straight and available (Post-ops considered).

Anth’s interests include phlebotomy, Harry Potter and calf massages (we forgot to ask which definition of “calf” he intended).

If in a vulnerable moment you do find yourself in bed with Landor on your next naming project, be safe, use a mental dam.

Should you wake up and realize you’ve been badly screwed by a “full service
agency”, there is always Plan B or Plan B.

But for those looking for a really spectacular hump, there is no substitute for Plan A.

The late great Mr. Hicks has something to say about the profession that we here at Igor ply as our trade on a daily basis.

As was his way, Bill is right on the money. In this clip he serves as the anti-Seth, which is always a good thing. Enjoy.

Today is National Inventors’ Day, celebrated on February 11th, the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison.

While it’s natural to focus on Thomas Edison, we should remember that this day is to honor all inventors. Many of the greatest inventors have been inducted into the The National Inventors Hall of Fame™.

The name of one of those inducted, Tesla, is now the mark of a new breed of electric automobile, appropriately named in his honor.

Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution. Contemporary biographers of Tesla have deemed him “the man who invented the twentieth century” and “the patron saint of modern electricity.”

Here’s a YouTube video of the unveiling of the Tesla roadster, sporting a powerful governator.