Summer May Be the Best Time of Your Life, But Not the Best Name for Your Product

I am about to have a baby. In fact, by the time you read this, I will probably already have had the baby. So like all new moms, I have been spending a lot of time shopping, both online and in stores for all the things a baby needs. (They need a lot of things.)

One such thing is something called a swaddle sack. If you don’t have kids or it’s been a long time since you’ve had an infant, a swaddle sack is a cozy little blanket with Velcro closures to keep the baby swaddled as he sleeps.

Anyway, on a recent shopping trip I found a rack of them and was dismayed to see that the sign above them said SUMMER INFANT. My baby is due in the winter so without much thought I passed by this rack and just ordered one online that night.

A few days later I was flipping through a pregnancy magazine and saw this ad. “Summer” is actually the brand name, not, as I had assumed, a reference to the fabric weight/time of year baby should be wearing this product.

Yet another lesson in “Be careful what you name your product.” As the tagline declares, Summer is “the best time of your life.” Maybe. Maybe not. Personally, I am partial to fall. But Summer, as we have seen, is NOT the best name for your product, especially if you are dealing with a target audience who is not always thinking straight … like pregnant women and new mothers.

I’ll bet 20th Century Fox wishes they’d had a little more foresight too …

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