Branded: true tales of the absurd - Seriously … - Brief Article

New Internationalist, Nov, 2003

Can't think what to name your new child? Why not try a branding focus group? Thousands of parents in the US are taking brand loyalty to what some might view as excessive extremes. The Australian reports that according to social security records for 2000, one newborn was named Xerox. The image of his father, perhaps?

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Forty-nine others entered this world labouring under the moniker of Canon. Others included eleven Bentleys, five Jaguars, and three Timberlands.

Seriously suggests a few more. If it's a girl, what about Accenture, Gap or Wal-Mart, and if it's a boy, DynCorp, Banana Republic, or FCUK for the edgier parent?

The mother of one of the Timberlands, a boy who is now three, says, 'His daddy insisted on it because Timberlands were the pride of his wardrobe. The alternative was Reebok.' They are now divorced.