We wanted to give you a light summer read on intellectual property in July, as it is the peak of summer. It’s a beach read. This is not a heavy-duty mental exercise. You can use some humor and brevity.
We are exposed to thousands brands each day as consumers. This is through internet ads, highway signs, radio and television ads, print advertisements, store signages, chartable event sponsors banners and even the clothing of people around us. Brand promotion is all around us in our consumeristic culture. It’s rare to see someone wear a tee-shirt that doesn’t promote something.
The process of selecting a trademark becomes even more important for businesses when faced with the endless flood of trademarks. Your brand must be memorable to stand out among the rest. It should be original, shocking, unique or even funny. But being clever in a commercial sense can be difficult. What is funny to one person, may be offensive to another. Keep in mind the audience that these products or services are aimed at.
As dads, we thought a little bit of Dad Joke humor might be in order. Luckily, trademarks are the perfect medium for this. Wikipedia defines a Dad Joke, as “a short, usually pun joke presented as a single-liner, question, or answer but not as narrative.” We’ve compiled a list of trademarks that we think are pretty funny.
- Restaurant services: WOK THIS WAY
- PADDY O’ FURNITURE is a furniture store that provides services.
- BIN THERE, DUMP THAT for waste collection services
- TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD for restaurant services
- BREWED AWAKENINGS is a coffee shop service.
- Tennis instruction services are provided by MERCHANT of TENNIS
- SPEX in the City, for eyewear services
- PAW & ORDER, for dog training services
Since it’s summer (at least here in Minnesota), we will all be outside again and gather in large groups. There are many fun events that bring people together. These include art and neighborhood festival, music festivals and marathons. Kids’ softball and baseball games, soccer and baseball in the park, picnics and ethnic festivals. When that happens, there are of course essential human needs that must be addressed. Somewhere, at some point, someone is going to need “to go” and a portable toilet might be the only choice. We don’t want to use these plastic rooms in the heat of summer, but they are sometimes the only option.
George W. Harding, co-founder of PortaJohn Corporation, was granted the first patent in 1969 for a polyethylene portable toilet cabana (cabana, sounds tropical, doesn’t it?). Why this switch from punny marks to porta potties. The portable toilet industry seems to be the only one that has a monopoly on trademarks as puns, combining them with potty jokes. It’s perfect for Dad Jokes like “What does a bathroom fairy call herself?” Stinkerbell.”
This is a list of all the brands that are available for renting or servicing portable toilets. (For best comprehension, read them aloud).
- ROLLING TRONES
- URAPEEIN
- THE CAN MAN
- POTTY GIRLS
- MOBILOO
- CALLAHEAD
- STOP and GO
- DAKOTA DUMPER
- JOHNNY THE SPOT
- DOODIE CALLS
Some trademarks of the actual portable toilet product (for those who need to buy one).
- P-POD
- TIDYHUT
- PORTALOO
- Privy RANCH
- MR. JOHN
- UNI BOO BOO
- BIG DADDY DUMPER
The last one is a dad joke, as are all of the others.
Send us your best Dad Jokes. We may decide to run a contest, in which the winning entry (by jury selection) would receive a fantastic prize.
The article Punny trademarks first appeared on Attorney at Law Magazine.