From NASA To Mountain Dew: The Greatest (And Funniest) Public Naming Fails

From Boaty McBoatface to The Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts - don't crowdsource names.

Creating decent names for things can be tricky and fraught with danger. So why not outsource it to the general public? In the modern age, getting vast numbers of people to voice opinions or come up with ideas for names has never been easier.

Asking the internet for help seems like a good idea—free publicity, increased brand awareness, and hopefully, a catchy name that already has the public’s approval—what can go wrong?

Well, quite a lot. This is a lesson that numerous companies and organisations have found out the hard way, often with hilarious results. It is a bad idea that’s one online joker away from a publicity nightmare.

There are probably hundreds or more cases where it has gone wrong – often brilliantly - but here are some of the best.

Boaty McBoatface - The Royal Research Ship

In the UK, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) deemed it a good idea to let the public choose a name for its new polar research ship. The response was… creative. The British public replied with o…