If you had to guess how many people would vote to name a snowplow, what would be your estimate? A few dozen? A few hundred? A few thousand?
If you chose any of those answers, you underestimated the crowd. This year, nearly 60 thousand in Minnesota cast their ballots and contributed over 22,000 naming ideas. To. name. a. snowplow. And it was a slow year — last year 122,000 people joined in the effort!
As a result, the Gopher State has the most cleverly-names plows on the road, including Darth Blader, Plowasarus Rex, F. Salt Fitzgerald, Snowbi Wan Kenobi, Edward Blizzardhands, and No More Mr. Ice Guy. Each of the 8 Districts in the state has a christened plow from last year and another to join its ranks in 2022.
For years, zoos have been holding naming contests for their cute babies, but the Minnesota effort to name an inanimate object surely should get you thinking about what you have that could be named. A contest to come up with a catchy brand for a new app? A naming competition for a piece of playground equipment? Encouraging participation to get a new title for a column or publication?
People want to feel clever. Tap into the latent creativity of your audience and find your own version of Betty Whiteout the plow.
