Image by Chad Michael Ward.
Okay, I have to point you at this post over at branding/name blog (geeks!) CatchThis (browser resize warning) The X-Rated Valentine’s List: Catchword’s Best/Worst Adult Toy Store Names (catchwordbranding.com). It’s pretty entertaining, even if I see friends’ company names on it in not-so-flattering ways. I mean Stockroom! I love you! I don’t agree with that one. Though I love a company that includes props for a gay toys store called Tightass Toys, and seriously: I’d rather use wheat germ for lube than shop at a sex toy shack called Healthy and Active. Snip:
Good For You
Ya gotta be careful here—if it sounds like it’s too good for you, it stops sounding like fun.
TurnOn: Earth Erotics
The alliteration gives this one a little lift, and the green angle is an interesting slant. (Although the juxtaposition of the image of dirt and one’s privates isn’t exactly ideal.)
TurnOff: Healthy and Active
It’s nice to be sex-positive and all, but could we have a little spice, please? This sounds about as exciting as an energy bar.Conversational
A name that sounds more like a snippet of conversation can go a long way towards humanizing a brand in this space—and helping it to stand out.
TurnOn: Does Your Mother Know?
This gay toy store name engages the consumer with a wink and forges a sense of shared understanding of the particular dilemmas of gay men.
TurnOff: Too Timid
For the truly timid, rather than seeming understanding, this name may come across as judgmental. Besides, why bring up fear when you’re trying to suggest pleasure?Humor’s always a good way to break taboos or defuse embarrassment. Take Freddy and Eddy: a name that instantly establishes a lighthearted personality for this gay toy store.
TurnOn: Babeland (formerly Toys in Babeland)
Clearly targeted to women, with appropriately racy overtones. And there’s something empowering in the way it lays claim to a term usually used by men to describe women. (Plus the play on “Babes in Toyland” is a hoot.)
TurnOff: Supreme Research
We’re guessing this was meant to be playful . . . but it comes off as deadly serious—and about as inviting as Science Lab 124.(…) S&M
Spartacus, SeekingO, Fetish Falls, Happy Tails (for spanking gear): we don’t know why, but some of the most memorable toy store names were in the S&M category. Go figure.
TurnOn: A Taste of Leather
Hard to make S&M sound elegant, but this name manages to pull it off.
TurnOff: Madam Giggles’ Whack Shack
The “whack” is appropriate for a store that sells floggers, but does that really make you giggle?(…read more, catchwordbranding.com)
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