Creating your own business is hard. Even if you can get the materials and the supply chain together to meet everyone’s needs, they have to actually need the things you’re providing.
And that’s difficult enough to inspire an entire marketing industry, but even the simple task of going with a business name can be surprisingly challenging.
RELATED STORIES
As my mom always says, “If you thought of it, somebody else did too,” and nowhere is that reality clearer than when people try to incorporate companies with clever names.
However, it seems that some folks are so aware of this that they aren’t even trying to be original. As long as their name and product are just different enough from the big brands, they figure they’re on easy street.
And the results are hysterical.
If those Nikes get too expensive, I suppose we could always try out some snazzy Nakes.
Hmm, are we supposed to pronounce that as “nake” or “nakey?” Oh well, the point is that the check mark on these shoes have a weird bump on it, so it’s a totally different logo.
Ah, nothing like some cozy socks that remind us of our favorite sodas, like Spripe and Peepi.
And putting aside that I don’t even know what “mirnid” is supposed to be, there is something charming about naming a fake soda after what it makes us do.
The makers of this costume might not mention the “mine game” they’re talking about, but they’re definitely playing some mind games.
They are certainly a crafty bunch, although they’ll probably get nervous if we put that word a little too close to their “minegame.”
If these Fortnite figures seem a little odd, that’s probably because you were likely expecting something a little more yellow.
However, that’s just not how the good folks over at LEBQ do things. Instead, they’re all about strange facial hair and names that look like someone mashed their hand into a keyboard.
I’ll give the makes of Ohno this, they do capture the feeling of losing at UNO well.
Although nobody will be saying it as loud as they will when Mattel’s lawyers get around to calling them up.
Just because whoever made these thought of more awesome names than the people they’re imitating, that doesn’t make what they’re doing any less obvious.
It actually took me a long time to try Dr. Pepper as a kid because I thought it was a cola that tasted like pepper, which sounded really gross.
I would’ve drank Dr. Thunder in a heartbeat, though.
It’s not surprising that people would want in on the success of the latest Spider-Man game, but this is an…interesting way to do it.
Along with the weird “Vice Vegas” part that implies things are about to get dark and edgy, surely there’s a better way to describe the webslinger than “strange rope police.”
These may not be the crackers we’re expecting, but I suppose the next best thing is alright. Sorry, I mean all “rite.”
After all, if you can’t trust the rigorous work of the food scientists at Krfoa, who can you trust?
This clothing store promises you access to some very titillating women’s secrets.
Not any particular woman’s secrets, mind you. Certainly not those of anyone named Victoria.
Apparently, we could only get them to confess these secrets anonymously.
Ah yes, if there’s one thing we all know about pubescent frogs, it’s that they tend to have shells.
Although despite the incredibly strong resemblance to the Ninja Turtles, the name does a lot to suggest that we’re talking about entirely different characters here.
After all, it’s pretty hard to wage a silent war while screaming, “cowabunga!”
There’s something pretty satisfying about the fact that there’s a fried chicken restaurant for every letter of the alphabet.
It’s no wonder KFC couldn’t even get mad when all these imitators started cropping up. I just want to know what QFC stands for.
If you have to rip off another company’s branding, I guess the smart way to do it is to make sure you’re not trying to compete with them.
No matter how close the name is, it’s not like Pizza Hut can say they’re the only people allowed to sell fast food out of a place they describe as a hut.
As great as off-brand products with slightly different spellings are, there’s some serious charm in naming your wares like a confused grandparent.
All this company needs to do to truly succeed is to start producing bootleg Nintendo systems and call the games “tapes.”
This version of Harry Potter seems to have much lower stakes, but at least he’s happy.
I’m not sure why we have to enjoy his magical adventures from his bedroom, though. That seems a little sketchy.
I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that actual plumbing companies would associate themselves with Mario.
Still, there’s something not right about putting an actual human face under Mario’s mustache. It’s like seeing what Homer Simpson would actually look like in real life.
Some car makers might aim to have better performance or fuel efficiency than an Audi, but this one has a much simpler strategy.
As long as the logo has more rings on it than the competition, that’s all they need to tell customers that their car is superior.
This company obviously figured that if both the name and the logo were different enough, no one would be the wiser.
And so, we have “Pomp,” who don’t use the mighty puma to represent their sportswear, but rather some kind of malnourished calf.
This might be the first time I’ve seen bootleg restaurants compete with each other just as hard as the real ones.
I’m not sure this is looking good for Adomino, though. Pizza Hot assures us that we won’t get a cold pie with the name alone. Can Adomino say the same?
I don’t know how this tastes compared to Nutella, but whoever marketed it may be onto something.
Nutella may have a lot of fans, but its name has no chance of turning us all into giggling 14-year-olds as quickly as this one does.
This attempt to rip off a brand may be the most brilliant one yet.
After all, the only way to accuse them of doing that is to admit that you’re aware of the service they cribbed their logo design from.
Pretty sneaky, folks.
