October 11, 2007
A Shade Off
I recently had a moment of weakness and took the three older boys to Dairy Queen. It had the ambience I've come to associate with a DQ: bad lighting, dirty floors, inattentive teens behind the counter. But the boys like it, for some inexplicable reason. As we sat eating our treats, I noticed a poster for a "MooLatte."
I'm no marketing expert, but my casual experience is that words like that are usually invented because they latch on to an existing word in order to seem clever or familiar:
Frappuccino: a mix between a frappe and a cappuccino; Sell-a-thon: a sale that will go on like a marathon; Croissanwich: a sandwich made with what passes for a croissant in America.
So what word does "MooLatte," which is a light-brown colored drink, evoke?
The vocabulary challenged can click here for a hint.
After a Google search I found I wasn't the first person to ask. What's interesting is that other folks commented on this in 2004. Apparently DQ is happy with the moniker. I'm not sure if that's evidence of chutzpah, indifference, or ignorance. What I am certain of is that Braum's has far better ice cream. Now if I can just get my tastebud-impaired ragamuffins to agree...
Posted by Woodlief on October 11, 2007 at 10:19 AM
Or, just perhaps, Moo refers to cows and latte refers to a coffee drink.
I don't see why anyone should be expected to police the entire lexicon of slang and language to avoid naming a product something that might possibly offend someone somewhere because of a creative reading of the word.
Posted by: David Andersen at October 11, 2007 10:56 AM
Wow... I'd heard of MooLatte once or twice, but I had never bothered to think about where the name came from, but now that you mention it.
Wow.
As to why they don't change it... once you've "branded" something, it takes effort (and money) to change it. If there's no big outcry about it (and I think most people just plain don't make the connection), it's not worth the money.
Posted by: Deoxy at October 11, 2007 11:06 AM
What's the best food to eat with a MooLatte? An eight-pack of lumpy chocolate coconut cookies, of course. Why not call them Coconut Octoroons? I'm kidding of course: such a name would be in rather poor taste.
Posted by: Dr. Weevil at October 13, 2007 11:20 PM
I would like to present another reason for madeup words. As someone in the program department of a large organization - only madeup words can pass trademark/copyright laws anymore because so many people are on the web marketing everything. Our attorneys have advised us to make up the names for things because it is all around easier.
Posted by: Linda at October 17, 2007 10:53 AM
Post a comment
