What's in a name?

I'm not an expert on marketing or product development, but sometimes I wonder WTH people were thinking when they came up with a particular name or slogan. It's like they don't realize words can combine to create a totally unintended meaning/connotation. I'm pretty sure that's the reason there are "math" people and "English" people: numbers combine predictably; words (or people who raise sheep and go to the pub) don't.

Take Secret deodorant. They have a scent called "marathon fresh scent." When the guys/girls in product development were trying to come up with a clever name that didn't involve flowers or Springtime, the conversation probably went something like this:

"We've spent ten years on this! It's engineered to last, like, all day. Hours. And be really tough. What's something that's really tough and can last all day?"

"A family reunion?"

"A soldier!"

"Clichéd."

"Oh, I know! Shoe shopping! When there's a sale. You know it's really hard to push past all those people and find your size-"

"What about a really bad hangover?"

"Not productive, Al - who's going to buy a deodorant named after a marathon vomit fest?"

"That's it! Marathon! A marathon lasts a long time. We'll call it that. "

However, when I think of a marathon runner, I picture something like this. Sweaty, hot, you can barely stand the smell of yourself. You take off your shoes and suddenly find yourself in the center of a ten-foot radius of Reek because your foot fug has driven everyone away.

So I guess they added the "fresh" thinking that their product would KEEP you from looking like this? Or maybe the Secret is that if you use this, you can run a marathon and still be fresh enough at the end to run another one? And don't even get me started on Baby Fresh.

I also saw a church the other day called Overcoming Faith. That right there seems like an oxymoron. I expect it to be a place for recovering Christians, or people who have excessive faith and it's getting in the way of their life. Why would they pick that? (Please don't misunderstand me - I would not in any way mock someone's religion or their beliefs. But I would be nervous about visiting that church because I'm not quite sure what their focus is.) I guess they mean their Faith Overcomes?

It all reminds me of that old Dudley Moore movie (I think it's called Crazy People) where he's in advertising, and he decides to use advertisements to tell the truth. They put him in a mental institution for this, and so all the patients are helping him come up with slogans - "Use Metamucil if you want to go to the bathroom," "Sony - because Caucasians are just too damn tall," etc. Sometimes the truth can be misleading. But it's out there, so...go get it.