Things that make you say, "Hmmm."

The Slender Reed recently wrote an enlightening post on Axe Body spray's "Bom Chicka Wah Wah?!?!" campaign.  In it, he derides the marketers on their choice of spelling, then hypothesizes that they may have intentionally misspelled it in order to copyright it.  I thought it plausible. 

Shortly thereafter, I ran across a new J-Pop band whose name lends more credence to Slender Reed's theory:

I've seen a lot of J-Pop band names in my time, but Pee or Boo rank pretty high on my Raise-the-Eyebrows meter.  Not quite as high as this band.  But hey.

Comments

[Jayce]

That's pretty dumb. Because honestly, I think they're funny ads. But here's the issue I have:

First, Urbandictionary isn't really a trusted place to get a real definition. Second, if it were, then 'Bom Chicka Wah Wah" would win out because it has the most 'votes':

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bom+chicka+wah+wah

And third, it's porn MUSIC. How is there a right way to spell a sound?

[Rowdy Theologian]

I'd just note that all the entries and votes cast for "Bom Chicka Wah Wah" were entered within the last few months (since the commercial has been in production.)

"Bow Chicka Wow Wow" was entered into the Urban Dictionary long before.

[S. Reed]

Thanks for backing me up there, RT! Obviously there's no real authority on spelling musical sounds, but "Bow Chicka Wow Wow" long ago entered the popular vernacular, and Axe is trying to capitalize on it by claiming their fragrance contains it. I have no problems with that marketing tack, but their execution does not impress me.

And what the hell is with that Rocket Dive song name? "Hide with Spread Beaver"?!?!

[Rowdy Theologian]

Actually, Rocket Dive is the name of the song. Hide (pronounced He-Day) is the singer, and the band is Spread Beaver. I'd always get a chuckle when my students would where Spread Beaver T-shirts to class. Neither they, their parents nor the teachers had any idea what it meant.

In 1998, my second year in Japan, Hide hung himself and his death shocked the nation.