Reebok Changes Name of 'Nightmarish' Shoe
Copyright 1997 by Reuters / Wed, 19 Feb 1997 10:52:02 PST
STOUGHTON, Mass. (Reuter) - Reebok International Ltd. said Wednesday it
will change the 'nightmarish' name of one of its women's running shoes.
Reebok has shipped 53,000 pairs of its "Incubus" shoes in the last year,
but found out only Tuesday that the name is that of an evil spirit that
rapes women in their sleep.
"We apologize," said Dave Fogelson, director of public relations with
Reebok. "Certainly it is very inappropriate."
He said the company found out about the embarassing name after running
an advertisement for it in an Arizona newspaper.
Fogelson said Reebok must find 1,500 new names for products each year
and did not properly research the meaning of incubus when it found the
name was not trade-marked.
"Obviously it became very apparent to us yesterday why nobody else was
using the name," he said.
The Webster's dictionary defines incubus as "an evil spirit ... that
has sexual intercourse with women while they are sleeping." Incubus
is also described as a "nightmare" or "one that oppresses or burdens
like a nightmare."
Fogelson said the name does not appear on the shoes, which have a
suggested retail price of $57.99. But the company will take steps to
remove the name from its boxes for the shoes.
"What people have to understand is this was an honest mistake," he
said.
― and what, Thursday, 5 July 2007 19:26 (seventeen years ago)
Okay when men are attacked by succubi, the monsters are preying on their natural sexual impulses in order to steal humans' life force for their own...but when women are attacked by incubi, it's "rape"? The demon plane really needs to get over itself.
― Laurel, Thursday, 5 July 2007 19:30 (seventeen years ago)
"Obviously it became very apparent to us yesterday why nobody else was
using the name," he said.
^^ favorite
― and what, Thursday, 5 July 2007 19:32 (seventeen years ago)
I worked with a guy who followed them Dead-style before they got really big (and, in his words, "went all pussy").
― milo z, Thursday, 5 July 2007 21:22 (seventeen years ago)
I didn't watch seven seasons of Buffy for nothing, son.
― Laurel, Thursday, 5 July 2007 21:45 (seventeen years ago)
i saw incubus play w/system of a down and mr bungle (puya canceled) on some video game company sponsored tour but then we had to leave when my drunk co-worker became incensed cuz dude played a digeradoo and it reminded him of some hippie guy in the south dakota state dorms that used to impress chix by playing digeradoo.
― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 5 July 2007 23:02 (seventeen years ago)