Thinking About Retirement

I don't know whether to laugh or cry... two times in the last 72 hours, two different clients have told us that a few of the names we've submitted "sound like retirement homes." (One assignment was to name place where they raise animals that we eat, the other project was to name a $12 wine from New Zealand, a country where I've traveled for nearly 2 months.) The following sentence is verbatim from the "animal farm" focus group report; "The name 'Harmony Estates,' was ridiculed for sounding like a mental institution, rest home, or even a cemetery." Both clients had hundreds of other non-ridiculed names to choose from, so we're not quitting our day jobs.

Mudpuppies - happiness is a warm brownie

Austin brownie baker and caterer, Joel Haro asked Eat My Words to rename his line of Texas-size brownies - talk about a dream job! Formerly called Bombs," e.g. Toffee Bomb, Chocolate Bomb, Tejas Bomb, the brownies, which are "best served warm," are incredibly delicious but the names weren't as appetizing. The new brand name, tagline and flavor names that we created are much more fun...

MUDPUPPIES™
happiness is a warm brownie™

FLAVORS:
Who Cares About Dinner, MINT™
You MOCHA Me Crazy™
Wake Up & Smell the TOFFEE™
There’s Something About CHERRY™
PEANUT BUTTER Nutcase™
Make Mine a DOUBLE CHOCOLATE™
Hunka Hunka BURNING LOVE™
(made with with ground guajillo peppers)

The gift box of mixed flavors is called.

Summer Party Photo Album

Thanks to global warming, the weather was perfect for the Eat My Words Summer Party. Guests included clients and friends from Charles Chocolates, Peas of Mind, Artesa Winery, Del Monte, Brand New Brands, and nearly every branding agency in town including Landor, Philippe Becker Design, Addis, Bedrock Branding, and Brand Engine. See more photos of people you know here...

New Catering Company Names

Austin caterer and MudPuppies man Joel Haro, also hired me to come up with a creative name for his business, which is currently called Haro Kitchens. He wanted a name that was short, hip and communicated affordable food. PINCH Catering was his first choice. My party caterer fell in love with the runner up name,SCRATCH Catering, which I happily gave to her. These are placeholder logos that I used in my party slideshow. Stay tuned for the real ones...

Meet my latest naming client...

Man's best friend may be a dog, but my best friend is an art director named Ron Werthmann. When he brought home a rescue dog, he was nice enough to let me submit few hundred name ideas. Since little Miss Thing has a whole-lotta-shakin' going on, the name Ron chose was "Hula." I like it because when she's naughty and runs away (which is like, all the time), he can yell, "Here Hula girl, here Hula."