Rodnolinux
October 29th, 2007, 09:50 PM
I am no fan of Linux, but for those who are, I have to say the marketing could be better.
A few years back, I heard a radio ad for the local commuter railroad, and the pitch was that the time on the train was your own time, to do as you pleased, as opposed to time lost when you are driving.
"To sleep, perchance to dream" the ad said.
Unhappily for the railroad, the "sleep" referred to was death. Hamlet is considering suicide in his famous "To be or not to be" speech. The marketing people had no idea that they were suggesting users might well slit their own throats while riding the train.
Fast forward to Linux. Red Hat has its "Fedora," no doubt what was thought to be a clever play on words, like Macintosh and Apple
But -- the name for the hat is drawn from the type of hat worn by Princess Fedora in the play and opera named "Fedora" (the opera by Umberto Giordano, play by Victorien Sardou).
The major plot line in the show is that Fedora commits suicide because she has betrayed her lover while falsely implicating the lover's brother (he dies) and causing grief to his mother (she dies).
It seems to me that if you want people to think good things about your product, that you don't necessarily want them thinking about suicide or suicidal characters, as they may come to associate the product with that.
A few years ago Chevy brought its Nova to the Hispanic market, not realizing that in Spanish, No Va means "It doesn't go." This kind of stuff happens due to lack of diligence.
For godsakes, Google any names or concepts before it goes on a product. Please. In a couple of languages.
A few years back, I heard a radio ad for the local commuter railroad, and the pitch was that the time on the train was your own time, to do as you pleased, as opposed to time lost when you are driving.
"To sleep, perchance to dream" the ad said.
Unhappily for the railroad, the "sleep" referred to was death. Hamlet is considering suicide in his famous "To be or not to be" speech. The marketing people had no idea that they were suggesting users might well slit their own throats while riding the train.
Fast forward to Linux. Red Hat has its "Fedora," no doubt what was thought to be a clever play on words, like Macintosh and Apple
But -- the name for the hat is drawn from the type of hat worn by Princess Fedora in the play and opera named "Fedora" (the opera by Umberto Giordano, play by Victorien Sardou).
The major plot line in the show is that Fedora commits suicide because she has betrayed her lover while falsely implicating the lover's brother (he dies) and causing grief to his mother (she dies).
It seems to me that if you want people to think good things about your product, that you don't necessarily want them thinking about suicide or suicidal characters, as they may come to associate the product with that.
A few years ago Chevy brought its Nova to the Hispanic market, not realizing that in Spanish, No Va means "It doesn't go." This kind of stuff happens due to lack of diligence.
For godsakes, Google any names or concepts before it goes on a product. Please. In a couple of languages.