I do so love being told that I do not exist
So, the SciFi Channel has decided to rename itself 'SyFy'. This is stupid, but aside from being fun to mock, just falls under "Marketing - it's wacky." The official reasoning is that SyFy, not being or resembling an actual word, can be trademarked and will turn up unique search results and that sort of thing.
Some of the other reasons given make it all the way to offensive, though, as well as reinforcing the long-standing impression that the network hates its viewing audience:
“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.
Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.
“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”
(emphasis added)
Well, I am so glad to hear that I haven't been watching and reading science fiction all my life! Who knew?
Did I tweet yesterday? I did!
- 13:35 Syfy? bit.ly/3wf3kM -- Really? REALLY???? #
- 15:20 Bite me, Tim Brooks. - bit.ly/13JG6V - "Sci Fi has been associated with ... boys ... as opposed to ... the female audience” #
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