Thursday, March 19, 2009

"SyFy?" ...Really?

Chalk up another in the growing list of things we could do without...

I heard a rumor the the Sci Fi channel is changing it's branding. Quoth Tim Brooks, TV historian, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel: “The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular.” So In an effort to "un-geekify" the channels image they're renaming it "SyFy."

I can see what they're trying to do from a marketing standpoint - they're trying not to alienate people who think Science Fiction is "geeky." However, in doing so, they're completely reinforcing the stereotype that it is!

As one of the comments at the end of that article says, "way to take a big dump all over your viewers!"

Oh, one more thing... apparently when they tested the new name, they got feedback that "this is actually how you'd text it." Should I have said "...txt it?" Anyway, that seems to have made the network execs "feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip,". I got news... if you're going for cool, cutting-edge and hip, then you shouldn't be txting the words "Sci Fi" (or "SyFy") to anyone. I can't imagine a situation where that would happen at all, let alone one in which it would be cool.

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