SOME BESTS AND WORSTS

Got a note from Minneapolis naming and branding company Pollywog Inc., identifying what they call some of the best (and worst) brand names of 2007. The hands-down winner of course was Nintendo’s “Wii,” which, despite opening itself up to potty-humor, also had its pluses. “It’s a name that you just don’t forget,” said one of the company’s principals. “Phonetically, it sounds like "we," a nod to its multiplayer design, or ‘whee,’ the sound of people having fun. Graphically, the lower-case i's resemble two little people, which has been used to great effect in the ‘Wii's’ TV commercials.” On the “worst” side were two notable names: “dimdim,” a free Web conferencing service, and “HYmini,” which they describe thusly: “An unfortunate name for a very cool little device that absorbs wind and solar energy and converts it to electricity for cell phones, MP3 players, and other such gadgets. How could they not have realized how close this name sounds to a part of female anatomy? Criminy.” Indeed.