Meet
Jason Castillo. Thanks to Netflix's failure to secure the Twitter name for Netflix's new spinoff mail-order DVD business, he is now the unintentional brand ambassador for
Qwikster:
(The profile picture is a recent change. Until yesterday it was an illustration of Sesame Street's Elmos smoking a massive joint, but Castillo got scared that the media attention would lead to a bust.)
Those of us charged with making up odd names for new brands that are both "intuitive" and twisted enough to be "ownable" generally go through a checklist of diligence before even getting trademark lawyers involved. We Google, check all top-level domains, and search all the major social media channels (Facebook and Twitter primarily) to make sure someone hasn't already claimed it. This oversight, for a brand as big as Netflix, is actually pretty astounding.
So astounding, as
AdFreak's David Kiefaber quips, it is " so dumb that I'd think it was staged if there were anything for the company to gain from it."
Is it possible? I doubt it. Considering the many gaffes that Netflix has committed recently, it's not stretching credibility to think that they simple dropped the ball. And while this kind of situation is usually dealt with by a quiet negotiation and modest cheque, Castillo is so gloriously stoned that he continues to play his hopes for making "bank" on this as the slow-motion trainwreck only social media can provide.
Meanwhile,
Business Insider points out that Twitter's
TOS expressly forbid the selling of Twitter names. So by being so publicly greedy, Castillo could blow the whole deal.
And Netflix?
Everyone hates the split anyway. It may be time to cut bait and run in a different marketing direction.
