The iPad’s Name Makes Some Women Cringe

By Clair Cain Miller, The New York Times
January 27, 2010

When Apple announced the name of its tablet computer today — the iPad — my mind immediately went to the feminine hygiene aisle of the drugstore. It turns out I wasn’t alone.

The term “iTampon” quickly became a trending topic on Twitter because of Tweets like this one: “Heavy flow? There’s an app for that!” A CNBC anchor, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, said the iPad was a “terrible name” for the tablet. “It reminds me of feminine products,” she said.

“Are there any women in Apple marketing?” asked Brooke Hammerling, founder of Brew Media Relations, a technology public relations firm. “The first impression of every single woman I’ve spoken to is that it’s cringe-inducing. It indicates to me that there wasn’t a lot of testing or feedback.”

It is not just women who were surprised. When Peter Shankman, a public relations and social media expert, saw the name on television, he was taken aback. “I’m waiting for the second version that comes with wings,” he said.

Mr. Shankman was surprised that Apple, with its meticulous attention to detail, missed the significance. He cited a piece of company lore — when its naming conventions called for a new computer to be called the Macintosh SEx, Apple went with the name Macintosh SE/30 instead.

So if the name is a bit tone-deaf, at least to half the population, will it hurt sales of the iPad?

“In three months’ time, if it delivers on its promise, no one’s going to remember that they chuckled about it,” said Hayes Roth, chief marketing officer at Landor Associates, a brand consulting firm that has introduced new names for many products and services. (Like many men, he said that he did not make the menstruation connection at first.)

The women I interviewed said that if the iPad is a must-have, they will buy it, even if their first reaction was to wince at the name.

Apple probably vetted the name and knew the risk it was taking, Mr. Roth said, but used the name anyway because it was so fitting. I e-mailed Apple to ask, but haven’t heard back yet. (Some critics, including a few commenters on the Bits blog, noted that Apple currently lists no women in its top executive positions.)

Mr. Roth said that whatever its drawbacks, the iPad name was effective.

“The minute you heard the name, did you know exactly who it was and who brought it to you?” he said. “Yes. Because they followed the naming convention that they created and have used very cleverly, and it’s a name that actually is very descriptive.”