*facepalm*
Seen on the lj of Ellen_Datlow:
Sci Fi channel is rebranding. And how are these geniuses rebranding? They're going to spell it "Syfy"!
They're trying to stop being "associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games," and to attract more of a female audience.
Well, I guess since the prevailing wisdom is that girls read fantasy and fantasy books are full of people with unpronounceable names, the girls will be more attracted to "Syfy." Or maybe they're specifically trying to attract girls named Mychelle, Eryca, or Nychole?
"The network worked with the branding consultancy Landor Associates and went through about 300 possibilities before selecting Syfy."
Wow. I wonder what the other 299 options were? Things with apostrophes? I think "S'igh Fy" would be even better! At least then we would think you were deliberately trying to be funny, instead of merely being clueless.
"It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have."
No, honey, it's a pretentious misspelling, and no matter what values you attempt to imbue it with, your viewership will still think of you as the network of Mansquito and Snakehead Terror, with a side order of endless reruns of various Space Opera series and really bad holiday themed fantasy specials. You will also forever be known as the channel that made Ged white (maybe you should show A Wizard of Earthsea for St. Patrick's Day instead of Leprechaun's I-IV).
If you really want to change your image, throw a bunch of money at some good writers and producers and get out of their way. I realize that Joss and J. Michael and Sam are probably expensive these days, but I bet any one of them would be willing to work cheap if it meant they were 100% in charge.
Seriously, you guys have had hits. How can you not tell the difference between the quality of BSG and that of Alien Apocalypse (which couldn't even be saved by Bruce Campbell)? Do more of the first and less of the second! It's not hard to figure out.
But I think we have found the real reason for the change:
“We need an umbrella brand we can attach to new businesses: Sci Fi games, Sci Fi kids. It does no use to attach ‘Sci Fi’ because there’s hundreds of sci-fi Web sites and sci-fi publications. So it’s changing your name without changing your name."
Uh-huh.
So really, it's not about attracting the wimmins. It's about creating a trademarkable name you can slap on product to sell to those gullible geeks out there.
Sci Fi channel is rebranding. And how are these geniuses rebranding? They're going to spell it "Syfy"!
They're trying to stop being "associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games," and to attract more of a female audience.
Well, I guess since the prevailing wisdom is that girls read fantasy and fantasy books are full of people with unpronounceable names, the girls will be more attracted to "Syfy." Or maybe they're specifically trying to attract girls named Mychelle, Eryca, or Nychole?
"The network worked with the branding consultancy Landor Associates and went through about 300 possibilities before selecting Syfy."
Wow. I wonder what the other 299 options were? Things with apostrophes? I think "S'igh Fy" would be even better! At least then we would think you were deliberately trying to be funny, instead of merely being clueless.
"It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have."
No, honey, it's a pretentious misspelling, and no matter what values you attempt to imbue it with, your viewership will still think of you as the network of Mansquito and Snakehead Terror, with a side order of endless reruns of various Space Opera series and really bad holiday themed fantasy specials. You will also forever be known as the channel that made Ged white (maybe you should show A Wizard of Earthsea for St. Patrick's Day instead of Leprechaun's I-IV).
If you really want to change your image, throw a bunch of money at some good writers and producers and get out of their way. I realize that Joss and J. Michael and Sam are probably expensive these days, but I bet any one of them would be willing to work cheap if it meant they were 100% in charge.
Seriously, you guys have had hits. How can you not tell the difference between the quality of BSG and that of Alien Apocalypse (which couldn't even be saved by Bruce Campbell)? Do more of the first and less of the second! It's not hard to figure out.
But I think we have found the real reason for the change:
“We need an umbrella brand we can attach to new businesses: Sci Fi games, Sci Fi kids. It does no use to attach ‘Sci Fi’ because there’s hundreds of sci-fi Web sites and sci-fi publications. So it’s changing your name without changing your name."
Uh-huh.
So really, it's not about attracting the wimmins. It's about creating a trademarkable name you can slap on product to sell to those gullible geeks out there.