games

Catchword's Name Game 

The Name Game, a popular feature of Catchword's quarterly email newsletter, has stumped even the savviest brand experts. See if you can guess the famous company or product name described in each game below.

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Answers

Answer #1: Maxwell House Coffee

In 1882, Joel Cheek (Clue #1), then a partner in a wholesale grocery firm, realized his dream of developing his own blend of coffee and invented Maxwell House. The blend (Clue #4), first introduced at the Maxwell House hotel in Nashville, Tennessee (Clue #3), was an instant hit, and guests began spreading the word. Years later, Teddy Roosevelt coined the famous slogan "Good To The Last Drop" (Clue #2) after finishing a cup of the java at another Nashville hotel. His endorsement sparked a debate in the community over the usage of the word "to". People wanted to know what was wrong with the last drop! Only later did a Columbia University English professor rule that "to", in the context in which President Roosevelt had used it, did also include the last drop (Clue #5).

Answer #2: Rolex

In 1905, Hans Wilsdorf founded a London firm to distribute his timepieces (Clue #2). In 1908, he named his creations Rolex, a coined term he chose because of its ease of pronunciation in many European languages and its comfortable fit on watch faces (Clue #4). In 1926, Rolex developed its first airtight, waterproof and dustproof timekeeper (Clue #5), aptly named the Oyster (Clue #3). In the years that followed, the Rolex Oyster would cross the English Channel on the wrist of Mercedes Gleitze and climb the heights of Mount Everest along with Sir John Hunt and his team of climbers. Oyster technology would be applied to all future generations of Rolex timepieces, including the DayDate, DateJust, Daytona, Explorer II, GMT-Master II, Sea-Dweller, Submariner, and Yacht-Master. Today, Rolex is one the world's most recognizable brand names, and its identity, a five-prong crown (Clue #1), is equally distinctive.

Answer #3: Apple Computer

The word "apple" combines with Clue #1 to make new words: pineapple, crabapple, candy apple; Apple's "core" business is computers, not fruit (Clue #2); John Chapman was better known as Johnny Appleseed (Clue #3); Steve Jobs was a founder of Apple (Clue #4); Pippin is a type of apple (Clue #5).

The story of how Apple got its name has become something of an urban legend. A survey of Web sources and branding books reveals many different versions of the process by which Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak selected this powerful, simple, and evocative name. Some of the stories claim that Steve Jobs was a Beatles fan and wanted to allude to their record company, Apple Corps; that he had just ended a summer vacation picking apples at an orchard in Washington; that he was eating an apple when he and Steve Wozniak filed the incorporation papers; that he thought of the apple as the perfect fruit, and he wanted Apple to be the perfect company; and finally, that "apple" was just one of several names generated in a brainstorming session, and no one could come up with a better one by the 5pm deadline. Both Jobs and Wozniak have discussed this topic in interviews without settling on a decisive answer. Jobs managed to combine several of these elements into one story he told recently: "I was actually a fruitarian at that point in time. I ate only fruit... And we were about three months late in filing a fictitious business name so I threatened to call the company Apple Computer unless someone suggested a more interesting name by five o'clock that day. Hoping to stimulate creativity. And it stuck. And that's why we're called Apple." When contacted about the issue, an Apple PR representative said, "We actually don't have an official statement on this topic per se." Perhaps the real reason it was chosen was that as an arbitrary name, "Apple" really could mean anything to anyone.

Answer #4: Amazon.com

No matter where you live, you've probably heard of Amazon.com. Launched in July 1995, Amazon.com sought to modernize and improve the book-buying experience by offering the Internet community a more efficient way to purchase its favorite literature. The company is named after the Amazon, one of the world's greatest rain forests (along with the Tongass and Great Bear rain forests, Clue #2), which was first discovered by the Spanish conquistador Francis de Orellana in 1541 (Clue #1). Stretching across 25% of South America and nine countries - including Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Suriname, and Guyana - the lion's share of the forest exists in Brazil (62% in fact - Clue #4). Its basin equals 2.5 million square miles. Given its immense size, it's likely that the commercial retailer wished to elicit associations with expansive inventory and endless product offerings. And, no doubt, associations with an adventurous and unusual buying experience were intended as well. But perhaps the greatest value in the Amazon name is that it is abstract enough to accommodate just about any product or service, lending itself to a potentially limitless portfolio of consumer offerings. Put simply, Amazon has wisely set itself up to move with the times, and as its business strategies change the name will stretch to accommodate those shifts. Sure, Amazon means "celebrated woman warriors", but thanks to the branding efforts of this company, it now means so much more (Clue #3).

Answer #5: Lipton Tea

Legend has it that the Chinese Emperor Shen-Nung first discovered tea in 2737 BC and that it has remained virtually unchanged since then (Clue #1). Supposedly, the emperor was preparing a kettle of boiling water on his terrace when a few tea leaves accidentally landed in the liquid. Curious to know how the leaves might affect the flavor, the Chinese emperor tasted the accidental brew and was delighted with the concoction. It wasn't until the 1600s, however, that Shen-Nung's discovery first reached Europe. European travelers to Asia fancied what had become something of a staple in the Far East and wished to introduce the beverage to their peers back home. While many colonists to the new world brought with them their appreciation of tea (and their anger at England's tea tax, Clue #5), it wasn't until the 1890s that Sir Thomas J. Lipton (Clue #2) truly popularized the beverage in America. Lipton, who owned tea estates in Sri Lanka, transported his tea to America in clipper ships and packaged the leaves in tins to ensure freshness and quality. Soon, Lipton became known throughout the world as "Sir Tea," and today his likeness appears on every box of Lipton's "Brisk" tea bags (Clue #3). Today, Americans drink 136 million cups of tea each day, and 80 percent of it is served over ice! For many, the Lipton name is immediately synonymous with tea, hot or cold (Clue #4).

Answer #6: Life Savers

In 1912, Clarence Crane (Clue #2) invented Life Savers and called them such because of their resemblance to the preservers. In fact, the original product label was of an old seaman throwing a life preserver to a young female swimmer, and the slogan read: "For That Stormy Breath" (Clue #4). Originally, Crane's mints were produced on a pill machine by a pharmaceutical manufacturer. One year after their conception, Crane sold the mints, which at the time were offered in only one flavor (peppermint), to an advertising salesman named Edward John Noble. The price: $2,900. Noble marketed the mints to various commercial enterprises, but the first real success was in getting saloon owners to offer them as an alternative to the free cloves patrons usually chewed on (Clue #3). Today, over 6 billion mints are produced yearly (Clue #1) and every pack starts with 14 mints (Clue #5).

Answer #7: Kodak

In 1888 George Eastman (Clue #4) introduced the Kodak camera. For a cost of $25, aspiring photographers got the loaded camera, a shoulder strap and a case. Camera owners would send their cameras to Rochester, New York where the film was developed, the camera reloaded, and then returned to the owner, all for an additional $10. Prior to the Kodak camera, the taking of pictures was a complicated and arduous task; photographers had only wet plate emulsion techniques available to them. After years of experimentation, Eastman finally succeeded in adapting paper to carry the emulsion (Clue #3). And, in 1891, Kodak introduced roll film photography (Clue #5), and rolls of film became available for purchase just about anywhere. No longer did Kodak owners need to part with their cameras. Kodak has since become a household name, and the famous Kodak yellow trade dress (Clue #1) is equally distinctive. Eastman became one of the richest, and perhaps most generous men, in American history, though his sizable gifts to the arts, education, science and medicine were most often anonymous (Clue #2). One such gift from "Mr. Smith" in the amount of $20 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology caused speculation for years.

Answer #8: Avon

Originally named the California Perfume Company, Avon is the most successful door-to-door sales organization ever. The history of Avon dates back to 1886 and a 16-year-old door-to-door book salesman named D.H. McConnell. As a prelude to his sales pitch, D.H. would present each housewife with a vial of perfume he had made and packaged himself. He soon learned that the perfume was in greater demand than the books, and thus was born the California Perfume Company, named for a friend who lived in California and provided initial investment support. Convinced that door-to-door perfume sales (Clue #4, in-person sales calls) would be an ideal way for women to help earn money for their families, D.H. hired his first representative, Mrs. Albee (Clue #5). Soon after, D.H. had nearly a score of fragrances in his portfolio, including Jockey Club and Heliotrope (Clue #2), two of the most popular. D.H. later changed the name of the company to Avon (Clue #3 - "nova" backward spells "Avon"), in honor of his favorite playwright, William Shakespeare, and Shakespeare's birthplace Stratford-on-Avon (Clue #1). However, the change in name was as much a strategic move as a sentimental one - D.H. was expanding his product portfolio to include baking powder, olive oil and other household items, and the name California Perfume was too limiting. Today, Avon is the largest direct-selling company in the world, with over 3 million sales representatives across 139 countries, and $5 billion in revenues.

Answer #9: Clorox

In 1913, five California entrepreneurs set out to convert brine in the San Francisco Bay into sodium hypochlorite bleach. They called their venture the Electro-Alkaline Company (Clue #1), and distributed their product to commercial laundries, breweries, walnut processing sheds, and municipal water companies. Later, the company would change its name to Clorox - an amalgam of "chlorine" and "sodium hydroxide" which together form the product's active ingredient (Clue #4). Not until 1916 did the company realize the potential for household use and begin manufacturing a less concentrated formulation of the bleach - a 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite, water-based solution. It's interesting to note that sodium hypochlorite is an unusual substance in that it is derived from a single compound - salt water (Clue #2) - and then reverts back to the original compound after use. In this case, it's the cleaning process, either in washing machines or on surfaces, that turns the bleach back into salt water. Over the years, however, Clorox has grown its portfolio to include household cleaning products, auto care products, dressings and sauces (including Hidden Valley Ranch, Clue #5), and a host of other consumer offerings. Clearly, the company is no longer just about laundry (Clue #3)!

Answer #10: Bayer Aspirin

The effects of aspirin-like substances were known to the ancient Greeks and Romans (Clue #1). Hippocrates prescribed the bark and leaves of the willow tree to relieve pain and fever. The willow is rich in a substance called salicin, a naturally occurring compound similar to acetylsalicylic acid. In 1897, German chemist Felix Hoffmann, with Friedrich Bayer and Company, searched for a treatment for his father's arthritic pain and began to research acetylsalicylic acid, which worked well (Clue #2). The compound later became the active ingredient in the drug named Aspirin - "a" from acetyl, "spir" from the spirea plant (which yields salicin) and "in," a common suffix for medications. By 1899, the Bayer Company (Clue #3) was providing aspirin to physicians to give to their patients, and Aspirin soon became the number one drug worldwide. In 1900, Bayer introduced the first aspirin in water-soluble tablets - the first medication to be sold in this form (Clue #4). In a national survey conducted by MIT in 1996, twice as many people choose aspirin over the personal computer as an invention they couldn't live without (Clue #5). Interestingly, both Aspirin® and Heroin® were once trademarks belonging to Bayer. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give up both trademarks as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It is now a registered trademark of Bayer AG in more than 90 countries.

Answer #11: MGM Studios

At one time MGM claimed it had "more stars than there are in the heavens" (Clue #1). New York theatre magnate Arthur Loew created Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924 by merging the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, founded by Arthur Goldfish (Clue #2) and Edgar Selwyn, with the Metro Pictures Corporation, founded by Louis B. Mayer. The studio was run by the famously sentimental and temperamental Mayer, who claimed he could not remember his real birthday and chose to celebrate it every Independence Day with an over-the-top Hollywood bash. Audiences first heard the signature roar of Leo the Lion (Clue #3) in 1928, but the studio really hit its stride with the Oscar-winning (Clue #4) 1939 releases of "Gone With The Wind" and "The Wizard Of Oz." After producing a remarkable string of epics and musicals in the 1940s and 50s, MGM began the most successful franchise ever with 1962's "Dr. No," featuring a hero named James Bond (Clue #5), who preferred his martinis "shaken, not stirred." In the 1970s MGM fell on hard times and was acquired by corporate raider Kirk Kerkorian, who sold off most of its assets to fund the construction of the MGM Grand Hotel. In 1990 Sony Pictures bought what was left of the old MGM lot and spent $100 million refurbishing it.

Answer #12: Tabasco

Edmund McIlhenny created TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce in 1868 (Clue #1) on Avery Island, Louisiana, and the McIlhenny Company remains privately held by his descendants to this day. Although the origin of the name TABASCO is uncertain, some scholars believe it originates from a Native American word meaning "the land where the soil is hot and humid" (Clue #2). The natural compound responsible for the fiery nature of TABASCO sauce is capsaicin. Its perceived potency is measured on the "Scoville" scale and ranges from a zesty low of 600 for TABASCO Green Pepper Sauce to an eye-watering high of 8000 (Clue #3) for TABASCO Habanero Pepper Sauce. The classic TABASCO Pepper Sauce is made of three simple ingredients (Clue #4): fermented red pepper aged in white-oak barrels, high grain vinegar, and a dash of Avery Island salt. Although it has a shelf life of five years, it takes the average American one year to consume the typical two-ounce bottle (Clue #5).

Answer #13: Keds

Keds classic white sneakers (Clue #1) have been an American staple for almost a century. From the beginning, rubber-soled shoes with canvas uppers (Clue #2) filled a distinct consumer need. The brand bowed in the latter half of the 1910s when the U.S. Rubber Company opted to consolidate its 30 footwear brands under a single umbrella. When the company's first-choice name - Peds, Latin for "foot" (Clue #3) - proved unavailable, Veds and Keds were selected as runners-up, with Keds winning out due to its stronger "K" sound. The brand lost ground in the 1970s, when running took off and sneakers segmented into individual sports, and Keds was sold to Stride Rite (Clue #4) in 1979. The brand marked a stunning turnaround in the mid-1980s, credited to its repositioning as a shoe for women and children (Clue #5). Today, the Keds line encompasses sneakers, casual shoes, sandals, boots, and more.

Answer #14: SPAM

Invented in 1937 by George Hormel, SPAM is the now infamous canned meat product renowned the world over. The name comes from the truncation of "spiced ham" (Clue #1) and was generated as part of an internal naming contest. The winner reportedly received $100 for coming up with the name. That bought a lot of SPAM in 1937 dollars! The product earned its place in history as a staple after WWII (Clue #2), feeding soldiers and civilians in the US and abroad. Even the notoriously anti-American Khrushchev said SPAM saved the lives of Russian soldiers on the front. It now comes in multiple varieties, including Smoke Flavored and Oven Roasted Turkey (Clue #3). Its unfortunate association with junk email ties back to a 1970 Monty Python skit (Clue #4) in which visitors to a "SPAM-friendly" restaurant are serenaded by a chorus of Vikings singing "SPAM, SPAM, lovely SPAM" over and over again. Today's email deluge is omnipresent and unwanted (Clue #5), just like the SPAM on the menu of the Python restaurant.

Answer #15: 7-Eleven

7-Eleven started out in Dallas in 1927 as the Southland Ice Company, selling blocks of ice to refrigerate food (Clue #1). When an enterprising employee started selling milk, eggs, and bread during the evenings and on Sundays, when other grocery stores were closed, the concept of convenience retailing was born. The company's first convenience outlets were known as Tote'm stores, since customers "toted" their purchases away, and some stores even sported genuine Alaskan totem poles (Clue #2). 7-Eleven is known for its trademark beverages the Slurpee (Clue #3) and Big Gulp, and for its jingle "Oh thank heaven for 7-Eleven" (Clue #4). In 1946 the stores were renamed 7-Eleven to reflect the extended hours of store operation. Now, almost all the stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (Clue #5). Sources: Wikipedia and the 7-Eleven website.

Answer #16: IKEA

The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, started his retail career by selling matches to neighbors from his bicycle as a young boy (Clue #1). He found that he could buy matches in bulk from Stockholm and sell them individually at a good profit. From matches, he expanded to selling fish, Christmas tree decorations, seeds, and ballpoint pens. Ingvar established IKEA in 1943, when he was just 17, creating the name from his own initials and the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up (Clue #2). By the early 1950s, IKEA began to focus on low-priced furniture, produced by manufacturers in the forests close to Ingvar's home. Akurum, Sabina, Sagolek, and Konkret are just a few of IKEA's furniture brands today (Clue #3). Now present in 29 countries, IKEA in the U.S. is commonly found near large colleges, whose students appreciate the retailer's low-priced, sometimes funky furniture (Clue #4), not to mention the steaming plates of trademark Swedish meatballs served up in the store's café (Clue #5). Sources: IKEA website and Wikipedia.

Answer #17: Frisbee

William Russell Frisbie managed a small bakery in Connecticut in the late 1800s. His pies were extremely popular, and soon he established the Frisbie Pie Company. Before long, he discovered that the pie tins' lids had an aerodynamic quality that allowed them to glide through the air (Clue #1). In the 1920s, Frisbie pies were especially popular at nearby Yale University. Dorms were filled with the empty tins, which undergraduate procrastinators enjoyed sailing through the air (Clue #2). Since the tins were made of metal and therefore potentially dangerous, the students would yell "Frisbie" to alert the recipient of the incoming tin. Wham-O toy company started manufacturing plastic disks in the late 1950s and initially called them Pluto Platters to avoid trademark issues surrounding the Frisbie Pie Company (Clue #4). After the pie company went out of business, Wham-O reverted back to calling the disks "Frisbees" (with a slightly altered spelling). In the 1960s, the game of Ultimate sprouted up on many college campuses (Clue #3). The game, based loosely on American football, uses Frisbees in a fast-paced contest between two teams of seven. And of course, man's best friend is famous for leaping high in the air to catch a soaring Frisbee (Clue #5). (Source: "From Altoids to Zima" by Evan Morris.)

Answer #18: Muzak

While the brand has experienced a recent revival, Muzak has been close to becoming the generic term for bland, oversimplified music (Clue #1). The technology was patented by General George Owen Squire in 1920 and became hugely popular as the number of high-rise buildings increased during that era. Nervous people unfamiliar with the concept of an elevator were comforted by the sound of music (Clue #2). The name, oddly enough, is a loose combination of "music" and "Kodak," a company that Squire admired at the time (Clue #3). Today, millions of callers "enjoy" the soothing sounds of Muzak while they toil on hold waiting for the next available operator (Clue #4). How may we offer you excellent service today?