Welcome to the End of Days, as the final two signs of the Apocalypse were checked-off late last week. Igor’s own creative director Jay Jurisich spouts off in not one, but two articles in the current edition of BW.

“It’s the end of the world as we know it…”

Some of Igor’s latest work: DirecTV Audience network

As if the naming industry wasn’t already overflowing with hot air, now there’s more on the way: Tropical Storm Igor forms over eastern Atlantic. Here is a high-tech graphic from the National Hurricane Center:

Now we just have to hope that Igor (2010 Hurricane Edition), doesn’t go on a destructive rampage like his cousin Katrina did five years ago, or our name is mud. On the other hand…more name recognition!

Igor’s latest naming work, The MGM / Dubai World hotel and casino “Aria”, has its grand opening in Las Vegas tomorrow. This marks the fifth hotel thus far in Igor’s naming portfolio.

MGM Aria, Las Vegas

Via The Las Vegas Sun:

The centerpiece of CityCenter — the Aria Resort & Casino — will open Wednesday, marking a day of grand opening celebrations for the $8.5 billion project…

…The 4,004-room resort and casino will feature more than 150,000 square feet of gaming space, a 215,000-square-foot pool area with 50 cabanas and an 80,000-square-foot spa, the largest among MGM Mirage properties.

The resort also will include 10 bars and lounges, and 16 restaurants. Aria will be home to Cirque du Soleil’s newest show, “Viva Elvis,” which takes guests on a trip through Elvis Presley’s life and music, with first performances beginning Friday.

Until Wednesday, VIPs and company executives will be testing the waters at Aria, ensuring the resort is ready for its first public guests.

Don’t fret, we weren’t invited either.

Are your company or product name brainstorming attempts long on storm and short on brains? Wordlab is ready to help you name whatever needs naming — most have very low mileage, are hardly ever driven during the week, and are used only sparingly on weekends to scan refrigerator contents and such. Our collection of brains can be picked through in the forums belonging to the Wordlab Groups, where you’ll find lots of free for naming and branding brainstorming fun. Jump in and pick the brains!

Tips for picking a brain:

1. Do not pick if the skin is too green–it’s not ripe yet.

2. The brain should be viscous and phlegmatic, yet hold up to a good thumping. Not too firm, not too soft.

3. The end that was twisted from the brain stem should be pliable when you poke your thumb through the outer membrane. If you can’t break the membrane with your fingernail, the brain was picked prematurely.

4. Smell is the most reliable indicator of freshness.

5. Have fun with it, but keep it platonic.

As we gleefully pranced and flounced about, celebrating the 250 thousandth download of the Igor Naming Guide; we got a complaint. At 115 pages, the ultimate free, how-to resource for naming companies and products, had gotten too long.

Having nothing better to do, we responded. The naming guide is now available in two different lengths: soul-crushing (115 pages) and moderately-irritating (26 pages).

Either version of the naming guide can be downloaded here.

Igor named the new in-flight wifi service gogo (case study here). Below, Richard Branson officially launches gogo service aboard Virgin America.

Wharton at UPenn and USC Annenberg School for Communication both chime in on The Igor Naming Guide.

Nokia’s Intrigue, the fifth Nokia phone named by Igor, debuted this week

Starbucks “Pairings” promotion seems straight forward at first glance. In this poster, snapped in Sausalito this morning, the deal is latte & oatmeal:

But the fine print could cause a panic: “*While supplies last”

WTF?

Igor’s work with Nokia can be perused here, here and here.

Via today’s NY Times:

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a longtime proponent of deregulation, acknowledged on Friday that failures in a voluntary supervision program for Wall Street’s largest investment banks had contributed to the global financial crisis, and he abruptly shut the program down…

…Christopher Cox, the commission chairman, said he agreed that the oversight program was “fundamentally flawed from the beginning.”

“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work,” he said in a statement. The program “was fundamentally flawed from the beginning, because investment banks could opt in or out of supervision voluntarily. The fact that investment bank holding companies could withdraw from this voluntary supervision at their discretion diminished the perceived mandate” of the program, and “weakened its effectiveness,” he added.

What the hell, let’s give him the “Moronic Statement of the Decade” award while we are at it, for, one more time:

“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work”.

The last six months??? How about the last fifty thousand years? Jackass.

Here’s an idea, you know that program whereby the I.R.S. may audit you? Let’s make that voluntary — you know, opt-in / opt-out, whatever works for you.

Or that annoying thingy where the cops pull you over for drunk driving? Same deal, you want out of that program? No sweat, we’ll give you a special decal for your windshield. You know, the “honor” system. It could work, who knows?

“Who are these guys?” (thanks Paul, for everything)

The marketing geniuses at Neutrogena, realizing how crowded the women’s skin care product sector is, have started selling vibrators. But not just any vibrator, a vibrator that a woman can, with head held high, take through airport security, buy at the drugstore, and leave in plain sight for the kids to find. Brilliant.

It’s the Neutrogena Wave, a sex toy with plausible deniability built-in.

Here’s to wiggle room: