Snark Hunting » merkin

Indiana Jonesing

Steve — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:54:20 +0000

If you always had a hankerin’ to see Indiana, this could be the nudge that puts an end to your procrastinations. As if you needed another reason, Indiana now boasts more potential terrorist targets than any other state. We can see the Blandorian branding effort coming…“Indiana, Right on Target!”

Says Blandor the Imponderable: “It’s paramount that Indiana carpe diem while the fish is frying and the skillet is hot. As my putative father was fond of saying, ‘Wearing a merkin on your head is better than letting your bald spot reflect unwanted glare.’”

[ More posts about Indiana | More posts about Indiana terrorist ] [ More posts about branding | More posts about destination branding ]

The “Best” of Blandor

Steve — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 23:36:58 +0000

The “Best” of Blandor is now available for the first time on his new, limited edition album called, “Old School.”.

This album has all of Blandor’s most forgetable tunes, including, “Is That A Merkin On Your Shoulder?”, “Uniqa!, Uniqa!” and the timeless, “‘Avlimil’ is derived from the Latin av, meaning ‘ear’ and limi, meaning ‘waxy’. An added bonus is mil, Latin for ‘a whole bunch’, which suggests that the pill will appeal to many women the world over.”

Is that a Merkin on your shoulder or are you just happy to see me?

Steve — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:46:40 +0000

There is no shortage of what the…? names adorning women’s brands. Sag Harbor, as the name of a women’s clothing brand aimed at women over 35 is one of the standard bearers. But the honoree for this year’s huevos grande award was never in doubt. It goes to upscale handbag brand name Lauren Merkin. Extra points for taking a low riding word like merkin and passing it right under our noses, lightly perfumed by the preceding “Lauren”.

Seriously though, how is it that these pricey purses, which everyone refers to as “a Merkin”, can keep their cachet given the negative meaning of the word? It’s because consumers are never, ever literalists. The “negative” meaning just gives people something to remember, to talk about, to have a laugh about. It never stands in the way of sales and is great word of mouth. The “negative” is really a positive.

If more companies were focused on keeping the cash register ringing, rather than on silly personal thoughts like “ I don’t want to be on the board of Merkin, let’s not name it that”, we’d have a far bigger pool of cost effective names out there. Naming needs to be a business decision, not a personal one.

More on the theory of negativity can be read here.

Says Blandor the Imponderable: “That name puts the cod back in my codpiece. Jouissance! I’ve been sporting this merkin on my dome for years, perhaps now the cruel taunting will be at an end. The most uniquely unique name to ooze through the pipe since this jagged chestnut was passed.“