3 ms·

For one, the choice of name, is quite unfortunate given Soylent Green. At first, I thought the name choice was intentional, a play on the concept from the movie

by rexreed 13y ago

For one, the choice of name, is quite unfortunate given Soylent Green. At first, I thought the name choice was intentional, a play on the concept from the movie, but alas, it was unintentional and therefore just adds to the perception that the research into Soylent is amateurish. Whether or not this is the case is not something I'm saying, just saying that from a marketing perspective, Soylent (not the Green version) is in need of improvement.

randallsquared 13y ago
How could it possibly be unintentional?! Did they actually say this, or have they just been coy about the naming process?
- rexreed 13y ago
  He named the product based on the Soylent from the book Make Room! Make Room!, which was a Soya / Lentil product meant to feed the masses, but the movie version Soylent Green had turned that into a mix consisting of human parts. While I understand he references the original book, the majority of folks familiar with Soylent from the movie context associate it with the human-composed product. This is what makes it unfortunate and unintentional -- I don't think they wanted / intended this association. And that's what marketing is -- it's creating a market perception and demand for a product. It would be as if someone came up with a new, super-high end car and called it a Yugo. No matter what you do, you could never completely erase the pre-existing market perception even though the new product might be totally different.
  - mcv 13y ago
    He can't possibly have been unaware of the fact that the movie is far better known than the book. Even if he meant it as a reference to the book, he must have been aware of the movie.
mcv 13y ago
Of course it's a play on the movie. Where do you get the weird idea that it might be unintentional?
- rexreed 13y ago
  See my comment below - it's a play on the book, not the movie. He was hoping for the original connotation of what the book intended, not what the movie intended. He talks about that here: http://io9.com/could-soylent-really-replace-all-of-the-food-in-your-di-510890007 http://io9.com/could-soylent-really-replace-all-of-the-food-...

by rexreed 13y ago

randallsquared 13y ago

How could it possibly be unintentional?! Did they actually say this, or have they just been coy about the naming process?

rexreed 13y ago
He named the product based on the Soylent from the book Make Room! Make Room!, which was a Soya / Lentil product meant to feed the masses, but the movie version Soylent Green had turned that into a mix consisting of human parts. While I understand he references the original book, the majority of folks familiar with Soylent from the movie context associate it with the human-composed product. This is what makes it unfortunate and unintentional -- I don't think they wanted / intended this association. And that's what marketing is -- it's creating a market perception and demand for a product. It would be as if someone came up with a new, super-high end car and called it a Yugo. No matter what you do, you could never completely erase the pre-existing market perception even though the new product might be totally different.
- mcv 13y ago
  He can't possibly have been unaware of the fact that the movie is far better known than the book. Even if he meant it as a reference to the book, he must have been aware of the movie.

mcv 13y ago

Of course it's a play on the movie. Where do you get the weird idea that it might be unintentional?

rexreed 13y ago
See my comment below - it's a play on the book, not the movie. He was hoping for the original connotation of what the book intended, not what the movie intended. He talks about that here: http://io9.com/could-soylent-really-replace-all-of-the-food-in-your-di-510890007 http://io9.com/could-soylent-really-replace-all-of-the-food-...