I thought I’d exhausted the subject of “new me” soundalike names in last week’s post (“Nu? Me?”). Then I visited MyHabit, Amazon’s daily deal site for “fashion and lifestyle” products, and discovered a clone that had escaped my attention:
NuMe sells hair dryers, curling irons, and other hair products, some with coy names like 3 Sum and 4 Play. The About Us copy leaves no ambiguity about the pronunciation of the company name:
NuMe offers a Nu Style, a Nu Change and a Brand Nu You!
Best not to dwell on the copy, which is unencumbered by the proofreading process. (“Availabel in two colors”; “It’s digital controls make it simple to set the right tempuarture for any hair type.”) I will point out, however, that the company is based in Van Nuys, California. In theory, at least, there are native English speakers—and editors—close at hand.
When your message is “the highest quality products” and the importance of perfect grooming, it’s a good idea to practice what you preach in every aspect of your business.
Incidentally, if you're going to have an online presence, wouldn't native English-speaking editors be available no matter where in the world you are?
Or is there an untapped market in online editing?
Posted by: Linnaeus | February 08, 2012 at 12:33 PM
>"unencumbered by the proofreading process"
Haha, great.
Posted by: mike | February 08, 2012 at 03:45 PM
>"Or is there an untapped market in online editing?"
There surely is such a market, but the price being paid for such editing is, as they say, what the market bears, i.e., virtually nothing.
Posted by: mike | February 08, 2012 at 07:04 PM
"3 Sum"? "4 Play"? How asi 9.
Posted by: CGHill | February 08, 2012 at 08:01 PM