Keeping a one-hit wonder on life support
Who Let the Dogs Out? was originally created for Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival season in 1998. A visiting hairdresser from London apparently recorded it from a float in a parade and brought it back to the U.K. with him where he played it for his producer friend. Soon it was covered by the Baha Men and wound up on the soundtrack of Rugrats in Paris. When the song was released as a single in 2000, it reached #40 in the US, #2 in the UK, went Platinum and won a Grammy; not bad for a one-hit wonder.
The song got played, overplayed, and then faded into the distance. In a poll, it made Rolling Stone’s list of Top 5 most annoying songs. Now the only time you hear it is in reruns and bad jokes.The Baja Men are probably two years away from an episode of Where Are They Now?
No one can say they didn’t see this coming. There’s a very natural life cycle at play here. Just like ice turns to water which turns to steam; Who Let the Dogs Out? went from fun to funny to annoying. That’s the way these things work. That’s why when I saw the van pictured above, I was amazed that a living artifact from a 2000 one-hit wonder was still with us.
This name surprised me a bit because most of us want names that are timeless— names that will still resonate in a hundred years if our companies are lucky enough to last that long. As a name for a company, Who Let the Dogs Out? challenges this idea because most one hit wonders are anything but timeless. While the song name definitely fits with a dog walking business, I will be amazed if people remember the reference in twenty years. But then again, maybe more time will work to their advantage. By now they have to be sick of people asking them about the song, or trying to sing it from memory when they drop their dogs off in the morning. You have to have pretty thick skin to be able to laugh at the same jokes I’m sure they’ve heard hundreds of times by now.
Maybe when the song completely fades from our memories, the name will take on a life of it’s own. I have to give them credit— the name isn’t boring and it definitely stuck in my memory. It clearly passes the first test of company naming. So I guess if they’re cool with all the jokes and song references, then more power to ‘em.
