Passed on from Facebook posters by way of Chris Waigl, this storefront, with comments from readers about the store name Kum & Go:
(Note the use of rhyme and alliteration in the follow-ups.)
Another chapter in the annals of dubious and unfortunate names on this blog. In this case, you might have thought that a double entendre was intentional, a bit of playful naming to catch your eye and stick in your memory. But the company’s official story maintains otherwise, so (apparently) it’s only accidentally risible.
From Wikipedia:
Kum & Go is a convenience store chain primarily located in the Midwestern United States. The company, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, operates over 400 stores in 11 states — primarily in its home state of Iowa.
… The Kum & Go name was adopted in 1975 to unify the company’s array of stores under a single brand. It was a play on the phrase “come and go” using the initials of founders Krause and Gentle. Sales of Kum & Go-branded merchandise increased after Johnny Knoxville was seen wearing a Kum & Go T-shirt during a scene in the 2006 movie Jackass Number Two.
Knoxville is no innocent; he’s boldly playing the name for yucks. But if you grew up with the stores or simply have them around you in daily life, you might not even be aware of the double entendre, or through repetition it might have receded into a far corner of your subconscious.
Previously on this blog:
from 12/6/10, in “Possibly unfortunate names”: Plumed Serpent for a gay bar (intentionally suggestive, as with many names of gay bars, gay baths, etc.); Pink Taco for a restaurant (probably unintentional); and Tube Steak for a hot-dog stand (probably a playful double entendre)
from 4/15/12, in “More unfortunate names”: big list of names, some clearly unintentionally racy, some playfully suggestive, some openly, even brazenly, suggestive, given the nature of the establishments (Hooters)
from 3/22/16, in “Annals of dubious commercial names”: Hand Job Nails & Spa (merely playful: no manual masturbation is on offer)
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