I wrote a couple of pieces on What's in a name? I explore the name game a bit further, looking at the credibility, or lack of it inspired by a name.

Rent a wreck is clearly a joke name, right?

As a tactic to attract attention to a reliable car rental company, Rent a Wreck is a winning name. It can't be literal! Who, apart from diving schools actually rent wrecks? But there must be lots of potential customers who take one look at the name and walk on by. They are the losers.

The Pisstakers suffers from misinterpretation too, judging by the reaction of many linguistically challenged (or is it prudish) souls who assume that we extract urine, literally. Relax, just check Wikipedia and you will see that we do in fact extract the michael - reliably.

Bodgit and Leggit detractors misread the self deprecation

Many believed that the name reflected an unreliable window installation service. (As if you would say, hey we are crap, unreliable, give us your money and watch us run like hell!)

It is the same here at the Pisstakers ie many visitors think you couldn't possibly read anything valid, enlightening or serious, especially about subjects like tech or news. To put the record straight, we couldn't possibly satirise or ridicule topics that aren't true, else that would be called creative writing. There is nothing creative about the posts here!

Credibility comes at a price

Rent a Wreck clients get a good deal, but the folks who need the peace of mind that comes with renting from straightforwardly named companies pay a premium. Hertz, Avis and "The small print requires us to charge you for every possible extra" Budget take their clients for every penny with a credible corporate smile on their face.

Likewise, for seekers of news, there is a price to pay for taking the easy path to reliable news sites - you get to read articles from experts that wreck the truth with mind-numbing accuracy and correct journalism.

Names that backfire

Sometimes attention grabbing names generate shocking results. As they say at games.net:

Would you buy a video game console called the Wonder Swan? How about the Turbo Duo? Or the Vectrex?

Not that they are bad products, but if Wii and X Box sales are anything to go by, the public thinks they are flaky.

In an article about business names, I highlighted a debate at Ask Pud where it was argued that offshoots of recognised brands should make a stand and have a completely different name to that of the parent company. So Flickr works well, whereas Yahoo Photos may not have enjoyed the same success. That argument made sense until Google came along and blew the theory sky high with the abandonment of Froogle, their shopping division. (Thanks to techboggle for that lead.)

I never realised Froogle was a play on Frugal, my bad, but now the credibility of froogle has been restored with a new name. The purpose of Google Product Search is as clear as day - a dull, rainy, frugally creative day. I say, live a bit, even if it confuses your customers - like Bacon Products.

What's in a credible name when it comes to people?

Parents, choose your kids' names well! How credible is the word of a guy called Dick? Would you follow a vice president called Vagina? Read Legend of the "kid named Eczema" and others to see some faux pas extraordinaires..

There, that is your dose of educational hypothesising for another day. You can go read Fox News and Wikipedia (Watch)for more believable stuff than found at The Pisstakers.

And cautious car renters, we at The Pisstakers salute your wise choices and sense of adventure, from the bottom of our self deprecating ass.