TOYS R... WHO?

This being the season to be merry (= shop until you drop, lest your offspring shoots you just for the fun of it), I thought I'd share a leftover crumb from my pantry of used, misused, underused, unused, abused musings on marketing and propaganda in general.
(I am a freelance copywriter, among other things... many other things. A slogan-smith, to be precise.
And yes, I am always open to new business offers. :))

There's a terrific blog on marketing, called The 60 Second Marketer.
In November, the name of the famous store, TOYS-R-US, came under scrutiny.

Is it a great name for a company of its profile?
According to the blog authors, it just might be "the best company name ever".

Yours truly begged to disagree.
Here's the "crumb" as it appeared in the comments section - minus the typos, plus a link or two.

IS it the best name "ever"?

Ever since I first saw this name, I have been under the impression that it is a more or less witty word play on the term - THESAURUS.
And it makes sense: it is a "treasury" of toys.

Conversely, the way it is generally pronounced makes no sense whatsoever.

"Toys ARE US?"

What does that mean?
"We" are toys...?
Is that supposed to be an all-too erudite pun on Louis XIV's "L'Etat c'est moi", or what?

Which is why I used to be endlessly irritated whenever I heard the "hillbilly" pronunciation - which, to my amazement, eventually turned out to be be THE "correct" way.

One could justifiably expect that, IF my assumption were correct, the PR people would have publicly clarified the confusion.

Or would they? :)

Still assuming that my "theory" is correct, they would have noticed that nobody had picked the allusion - which would mean that the allusion was worthless, totally "off", from the marketing point of view.

Furthermore, considering that people were seemingly pleased with, and accepting of, the "meaning" THEY (the people themselves) had attributed to the name - not realising that it was probably never intended to be pronounced aloud - the executives would have kept their mouths shut, all too happy to play along.

Am I right?
Who knows.
Anyway, analysing names it's fun. ;)
If I were right, it would mean that the name was anything BUT "the best name".
It would mean that it was a FLUKE - a very lucky strike for the company, courtesy of the general public's lack of erudition (or sheer common sense).

Good for them. Who am I to bash sheer luck? ;)

But true or false, I know I will continue being profoundly irritated by its pronunciation.

So there.
For all I know, it may have been a Casablanca situation: a script that went nowhere and/or in all directions, only to end up being a mind-bogglingly beloved film.
It triumphed in spite of itself.
Whatever it was - and only God knows what it was - the public loved it.
Mission accomplished.


What do YOU think?

(Oh, you have no idea?
Well, I guarantee you, my friend, the next time - every next time - you see that name, you shall think of this.
I do.
Mission accomplished.
See? ;)