Spinning your wheels for the right name
It was the mid 1950s and the Ford Motor Company had a new mid-level car to name. They spared no expense, hiring an ad agency to produce over 6 thousand name possibilities, and engaging poet Marianne Moore to create several more.
But the developers of the car simply could not agree, and after all outside names were rejected, the family name Edsel was finally chosen.
The car went on to become one of the most remarkable commercial failures of its time. Of course, the name (which, according to market research, evoked words such as “weasel” and “dead cell”) wasn’t the soul reason for the brand’s downfall. Still, sometimes it pays to play it safe.
