Boaty McBoatfaceis the little vessel that could — and did — change the internet . McBoatface was the people ’s selection in a 2016 competition to name a research ship in the U.K. , and although it was ultimatelynamedafter Sir David Attenborough , Boaty ’s impingement has been far - reaching . While this event did n’t start the trend of trolling public naming contests , it arguably promote the pattern .
Earlier this yr , an Australian sauceboat that had purportedly been named " Ferry McFerryface " by the world got sweep up in a political dirt when the transferral curate revealed he had ignored the democratic ballot in prefer McFerryface . He had hoped the name would pull together " global tending " and , to some degree , it work . There have also been reports of an bird of Minerva identify " Hooty McOwlface , " and a recent namingcontestfor a pipe - scrutinize automaton in Kansas City bring forth suggestions such as " Botty McBotface , " " Probey McProbeface " , and " Pipey McPiperson . " ( Seemingly pale of this schtick , the populace choose for “ Jeff " instead . )
JSTORDailyeven break down the philology of “ dishonoric epithets ” like Mister Splashy Pants and Boaty McBoatface , explaining that we find them so funny because they ’re “ a variety of extended cutesy baby talk . ” For more on Splashy and other net naming contests that went awfully and hilariously awry , keep reading .
1. MISTER SPLASHY PANTS
Long before Boaty McBoatface , another public naming contest captured the collective imagination of internet users with too much time on their hands . In 2007 , environmental radical Greenpeace solicited name suggestions for one of the endangered humpback whales it had tagged . The organization hoped the contest would call attention to the Japanese Fisheries Agency ’s program to hunt 50 whales , but to their dismay , “ Mister Splashy Pants ” exact 78 percent of the vote , beating out more serious suggestion like " Aiko , " " Aurora , " and " Shanti . " One participant on the face of it figured out that they could submit two suffrage per second by disabling cooky , and they did so for 38 straight minutes , allot toThe A.V. Club . Users of Reddit and other site shortly discovered the contest and bedevil their livelihood behind Splashy , and the rest is history .
Greenpeace ab initio bemoaned the results but eventually end upembracingthe humor in it , calling the hulk “ The Splashy - Panted One ” in an clause announce the winner . Plus , the publicity surrounding the competition convinced the Japanese government to call off its hunting . A win - winnings for everyone , including the whale with the flamboyant unexampled name .
2. S.S. SHOULD’VE BEEN A BRIDGE
BC Ferry Services , a transportation companionship in British Columbia , got a ill-mannered awakening when it asked customers tonamethree of its ferries back in 2015 . Some commuter , who were less than pleased with late fare increases , used the poll parrot to voice their distaste . Among the 7100entrieswere “ S.S. ShouldveBeenABridge , ” “ Spirit of the WalletSucker , ” “ Queen of No Other Choice , ” and “ The Floating Crapsickle . ” Ouch . Fortunately for BC Ferries , the rules stipulated that the winner be chosen by the company and not by popular vote . In a tribute to British Columbia ’s indigenous Coast Salish population , the vessel were name “ Salish Orca , ” “ Salish Eagle , ” and “ Salish Raven . " The company did n’t spell the contest off as a pure catastrophe , though . Mike Corrigan , chief operating officer of BC Ferries , toldBusiness in Vancouverthat the sardonic suggestions “ really promoted the appointment contest " for them .
3. FRED DURST SOCIETY OF THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS
Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst has lent his lyrical talents to timeless nu metal hits such asNookieandBreak Stuff , and he nearly bestow his name to a solid waste department in Austin , Texas . In 2011 , residents enter in a publicnaming contestoverwhelmingly vote in favour of a suggestion by 24 - year - old local Kyle Hentges to rename the department the “ Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts . ” It receive 27,000 more votes than the runner - up , “ Department of Neat and blank . ”
“ I thought mention the department after Durst would fence in the unflattering service with some humor , " Hentges told theAustinistat the time . " We ’re pick up drivel and he ’s been producing it for 20 years . It made sense . ” Durst himself reportedly gave the name his thanksgiving , but Austin was n’t birth it . They ultimately went with “ Austin Resource Recovery " in a move that would neither offend nor machination .
4. STEAGLE COLBEAGLE THE EAGLE
lecture show boniface Stephen Colbert is the master of highjack on-line naming competition . In 2009 , NASA held apollto find a new name for Node 3 , one of the modules of the International Space Station . “ Colbert ” was the uncontested succeeder , thanks to the comic ’s loyal rooter base , but NASA instead choose to name the node Tranquility after the moon ’s Sea of Tranquility , the landing place site of the Apollo 11 mission . However , NASA did name atreadmillin the outer space post in his purity , dub it the “ Combined Operational Load bear External Resistance Treadmill ( C.O.L.B.E.R.T. ) . ”
Prior to that , “ Colbert ” won both a bridgework - naming contest in Hungary and a mascot - naming contest in Michigan in 2006 . In the former example , ColbertannouncedonThe Colbert Reportthat he had beaten out " Chuck Norris " and “ 17th - hundred Hungarian hero Miklós Zrínyi , ” but the Magyar government opted for another name becausemonumentsin Hungary can only be named after idle people . In one of the uncommon case when the results of a public naming poll parrot were in reality abide by , the Michigan - based third-year shabu hockey team Saginaw Spirit christened their mascot “ Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle ” after the Colbert nation “ right to vote - bombed ” their website .
5. SOYLENT GREEN
When your objective market encounter to be teenaged boys , it ’s likely best not to let your customers blame out a name for a novel product . The maker of Mountain Dew learn this the hard way back in 2012 when it host a “ Dub the Dew ” canvass for a green apple - flavored sal soda . As the suggestions started to roll in , they went from spoiled to worse . Some , like “ Sierra Mist ” and “ Soylent Green , ” were relatively harmless when compared to the names that lead the leaderboard , like “ diabeetus ” and “ Hitler did nothing wrong ” ( which claimed the top blot ) . Mountain Dewapologizedfor the " compromised " promotion and quickly exclude it down .
6. A GIRL NAMED CTHULHU
opine turn up and learn that you ’re named after an ocean - home , tentacled monster from an H.P. Lovecraftstory . That could have been the case for one infant daughter who was nearly baptise “ Cthulhu ” after her parents call upon the net to name their newborn in 2014 . There were consideration , though . In an postscript to the online poll on the website NameMyDaughter , the father sagely publish :
As Business Insiderreported , they ultimately went with the runner - up , Amelia , which was surprisingly normal compare to some of the other mesmerism , including " Megatron " and " Streetlamp . "
7. THE HARRY BAALS GOVERNMENT CENTER
When the residents of Fort Wayne , Indiana , vote to name a governance building “ Harry Baals ” after an real mayor who dish out the town in the 1930s and then again in the fifties , local official were n’t convinced that they did so out of a apportion admiration for the late pol . While some voters were real fans of Baals ( whose descendent changed the pronunciation from " orb " to “ Bale ” ) , local officials scrapped the suggestion to prevent the town from becoming a laughing stock . “ We clear that while Harry Baals was a well-thought-of mayor , not everyone outside of Fort Wayne will know that , ” Deputy Mayor Beth Malloytoldthe Associated Press in 2011 . It was ultimatelynamedCitizens Square .
8. JOHN CENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
At John Cena Elementary School , one would ideate that the children are teach The Champ ’s signaturewrestling moves , from the Five Knuckle Shuffle to the Running One - Handed Bulldog . Indeed , one schoolin Austin , Texas , nearly deal a name with the WWE champion in 2016 when the district decided that its Confederate - instigate name , Robert . E. Lee Elementary School , should be consigned to history . In a public naming contest launched by the district , " John Cena " was one of several suggestions that tail behind " Donald J. Trump Elementary , " the most pop choice . Othersuggestionsincluded “ Bruce Lee Elementary , ” “ The Adolf Hitler School for Friendship and Tolerance , ” and of course of action , “ Schoolie McSchoolface . ” The schoolhouse plank , unsurprisingly , rejected those ideas and insteadnamedthe school day after lensman Russell Lee .
9. HARAMBABY
Much like Boaty , Harambe was the viral joke that wo n’t go away . In 2016 , three months after a gorilla named Harambe was fatallyshotat the Cincinnati Zoo when a male child fell into the beast ’s enclosure , the cyberspace predictably suggested that a new-sprung Gorilla gorilla at the Philadelphia Zoo be named after the descend ape . Before the competition was even officially denote , Twitter users started to proffer somesuggestions , include “ Harambe McKongface , ” “ Harambaby , ” “ Harambae , ” and “ Harambe ’s Revenge . " The zoo was quick to elucidate that it would pre - select a few names before putting it to a public voter turnout , and thewinnerended up being " Amani , " meaning " public security " in Swahili .
