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Crashing the World’s Biggest Wine and Cheese Party

by Jeffery Racheff Cheese-makers, prepare to curd your enthusiasm. The European Union is cracking down on producers who name their products after places of geographical significance — Camembert, Champagne, etcetera, in an effort to pasteurize fakers and keep the famous brands solely within the continent. Basically, if your Burgundy isn’t flying a French flag, the EU…

Jennifer Aniston: victim of a classic ‘Baste & Switch’

by Jeff Racheff There are innumerable reasons why a movie might bomb in Hollywood today. Maybe the studio forgot to promote it. Maybe what started out as a family film scared away audiences after it received an NC-17 rating. Or maybe it just had a forgettable name. Take The Switch for example. Jennifer Aniston’s latest…

Ameriie Has a Vowel Movement

by Jeffery Racheff Rock ‘n’ roll takes no prisoners. Especially with those who have terrible names. This is typically a lesson learned the hard way. The perfect band name you came up with over the course of a week-long drug and booze binge might not fare so well in the long-run. So what does an artist…

New name for PSYOPS messes with your head

By Jeff Racheff America’s mind warriors are facing a brain-bending name change. The U.S. Department of Defense announced last month it is considering swapping PSYOPS, the name for the military branch in charge of  psychological warfare, for MISO (Military Intelligence Services and Operation) after concerns the former name carries negative connotations. Senior officials in the…

Pork: formerly known as the other white meat

by Jeffery Racheff Get ready for a whole new shade of lipstick on your honey baked ham. The National Pork Board (yes, it really exists) announced this week that it will be dropping the iconic slogan “Pork. The Other White Meat” as part of a new effort to revamp the meat’s image. Known officially as…

Cougar Town: so much more than just sex-crazed women

by Jeffery Racheff Cougar Town is on the prowl for a new name. After a dramatic 180-degree turn midway through its first season, producers of the hit ABC sitcom starring Courteney Cox are looking to change the show’s title because the old one doesn’t quite represent it anymore. The show follows a recent divorcee named…

A tale of two Vancouvers

by Jeffery Racheff As far as most of the world is concerned, there is only one Vancouver. It’s in British Columbia, it hosted this year’s Winter Olympics, and it’s Canada’s third largest city. But hold on to your maps — another Vancouver exists. Just 300 miles to the south, making up the second half of…

Maalox Total Relief: works so well it will make you sick

By Jeffery Racheff If there’s one place you don’t want to confuse names, it’s probably in the world of medicine and drugs. Take Maalox Total Relief for instance. Folks looking for deliverance from diarrhea flocked to the over-the-counter medicine, assuming it would alleviate their belly pains. Instead they found themselves much worse off. What they…

I want my MTV… without the "music television"

by Jeffery Racheff Video killed the radio star, and now MTV has killed the video. After an increasing amount of programming dedicated to all things reality, the cable giant has officially struck the tag “music television” from its logo. It will now make its mark with an expanded, transparent “M” (presumably one in which the…

I’ve never seen a cardinal in Arizona

by Barry Silverstein The Super Bowl got us thinking about sports team names. Some professional sports team names really work – like the New Orleans Saints. After all, with the city’s connection to jazz and the immortal tune, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” the name is a great fit. The New England Patriots –…

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