Spotted Dick – When Product Naming Goes Bad 3
You may remember my posts for “Horlicks” Drink?and “Bimbo” Cookies. I give you…
You couldn’t pay me to eat “Spotted Dick“!
A typical US consumer reaction to Spotted Dick:
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You may remember my posts for “Horlicks” Drink?and “Bimbo” Cookies. I give you…
You couldn’t pay me to eat “Spotted Dick“!
A typical US consumer reaction to Spotted Dick:
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April 4th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Bimbo is a huge brand name in Latin America. As big as, say, Wonder Bread.
April 4th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Yes, except Wonder Bread doesn’t mean sleezy woman. Do you think Bimbo is an appropriate name for a cookie sold in the US?
April 7th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
[...] Spotted Dick Sponge Pudding [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Yes, even in the UK this sometimes causes amusement. But we have similar problems with US brand names. “Lays” would have us in laughter (see link below) and when “Snickers” replaced our “Marathon” a whole generation of children giggled at the idea of eating a chocolate bar that sounds like underwear (UK… knickers)
More http://alex.woodruff.de/chipping-away-at-the-design/
April 8th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Hey Alex, I’m pretty sure we speak English here as well (didn’t you wankers teach us) so “Lay’s” is another silly name. I never even thought of that one. And I think that is one of the top potato chip brands in the US.
Snickers on the other hand does not “mean” something bad. Yes it rhymes with knickers but it’s not the same. If we started rhyming names we’d be in big trouble.
Thanks for the post and to the link about Lay’s (great article). Come back and talk again!
p.s. My wife’s mom and relatives are from England. They just came to visit us in St. Thomas three weeks ago. Nothing makes me smile more than to see a bunch of English people sitting out in the hot, hot sun eating hot cross buns for breakfast.
April 12th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Of course the problem is that if you named it anything else you’d be losing the very people you’re trying to reach. Spotted dick is a type of pudding and I imagine those who like it would be quite happy to see that Heinz is offering it in a quick, convenient package. But if Heinz called it something else (”British pudding”?) people looking for spotted dick would have no idea what it was. (Actually, neither would anyone else.) It would be like selling haggis in a can but calling it “Oatmeal pudding” because “haggis” might remind some Americans of hags.
And I’m confused: what’s so funny about sitting in the hot sun eating hot cross buns? Is it more ridiculous than eating hot toast? Honestly, I don’t catch the humour here.
April 12th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Yes Christopher, if they renamed it now it would cause many problems -I agree. I found it a strange name to begin with. If I were selling a new pudding “spotted dick” would be the last thing I would want to name it. That’s my point and why I think the name is bad. Even in England it must raise a few eyebrows but it’s been around forever.
I’m pretty sure Spotted Dick would be a hard sell in the US (see YouTube vid above) as the typical American would think it was a joke. Once again, just my opinion and I certainly value yours.
Haggis is another name that I would avoid at all costs as well because it could associate with the word hag. My personal opinion is you have to think long and hard about a name before taking it to market. Escpecially if that product is going to be sold abroad.
Thanks for you input, come back again! I value everyone’s opinion even if you all are wrong and I’m always right
April 20th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
I thought it was a joke at first…… a very funny joke. I wouldn’t buy it, but it would attract a lot of attention and many giggles.
There are several restaurants that I would be reluctant to eat in just because of the name……. “The Elephant Bar”, “The Blue Cow”…… I hear the Elephant Bar is a great upscale place to eat that “does not serve elephant”, but I really need many referrals before eating there. Also, I want to check out the menu for myself!!
Brenda Bunney