(Inadvertent) Naming Rights

Those whose names have been forever linked to things, causes and events, through no fault of their own.

Some prominent people, including business owners, proudly deploy their own names as a key element of a business’ branding strategy. Such examples include: Marriott International, which was founded by a real guy, J. Willard Marriott; and Hilton Worldwide, most closely associated with Paris Hilton (That’s hot!). . .er, I mean her great-grandfather, Conrad Hilton; and The Walt Disney Company - do I really need to indicate the name of the founder here?

And, there are likely other clear examples of individuals slapping their name on virtually everything in sight, but I’m drawing a blank right now. Well, it’ll come to me, sooner or later.

But, what of those people whose name becomes inextricably linked to a thing, or a cause or an event, of which they had no intention to be attached?

A prime example, I believe, is Abraham Zapruder, a Ukrainian-born American clothing manufacturer. How many of us are familiar with Zapruder’s clothing line? No, if we know the name Zapruder at all, it’s in the context of the “Zapruder film,” footage Mr. Zapruder filmed with his Bell & Howell 8-mm camera of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas in November, 1963. Inextricably linked.

Similarly, it’s unlikely that any of us are familiar with the work of laborer, Ernesto Arturo Miranda. Rather, we associate the name, “Miranda” with the “Miranda warning,” which grew out of Miranda’s 1963 arrest for armed robbery, kidnapping and rape. Miranda was convicted initially, but the Supreme Court invalidated that conviction. Unfortunately for Miranda, the case was retried and he was convicted again, setting aside the “Miranda warning” issues, and he was sentenced to 20-30 years in prison. But, the “Miranda warning” (you know, the '“You have the right to remain silent. . .” thing) lives on.

And, how about the recently overturned Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling? Have you ever wondered who “Roe” is, or even “Wade,” for that matter? Well, “Jane Roe” was a pseudonym for a woman named Norma McCorvey, who sued the local district attorney, Henry Wade, where she lived in Texas in 1973, alleging that Texas’ law banning abortion was unconstitutional. By the way, why did they use a pseudonym for fish eggs (“roe”), rather than the description of a female deer (“doe”) as a stand-in for McCorvey’s last name, as they typically do for anonymous males? Also associated with this issue is the so-called Dobbs Decision, a case decided by the Supreme Court in 2022, which effectively overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling. The “Dobbs” in question was Thomas E. Dobbs, state health officer with the Mississippi State Department of Health, who had been sued by the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s only abortion service provider at that time. Dobbs: meet Roe.

Inadvertent naming often arises in court cases, as a quick and easy shorthand to describe momentous cases. An example is the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925, in which you may have heard of the two attorneys battling in court: high-profile attorney, Clarence Darrow and perennial presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. But, the defendant in the case, John T. Scopes, a Tennessee high school teacher charged with violating a state law prohibiting the teaching of evolution, is largely lost to history. Except for attaching his name to the famous case.

Another groundbreaking court case has become known as Brown vs. Board of Education. That Supreme Court ruling from 1954, originally filed in Topeka, Kansas, established that state laws enabling racial segregation in public schools were unconstitutional. The plaintiff in the class-action suit was Oliver Brown, a welder whose daughter was refused entry into a local school, and the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court.

Crime is another popular genre in which the names of victims are used to characterize a case. The Tate-LaBianca murders, committed in Los Angeles in 1969, were orchestrated and executed by Charlie Manson and his “family.” Among the seven people killed during those two consecutive nights were: actress Sharon Tate and supermarket executive, Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. Unfortunately, their deaths at the hands of a murderous cult is what is remembered of them.

Becoming known as the father of the Ponzi scheme, a fraud which relies upon paying early investors with funds provided by more recent investors (and, either indicating that profits are derived from legitimate business activities, or exaggerating the level and extent of such legitimate earnings) may not have been the goal of Charles Ponzi, as he engineered his craft in the 1920’s, but his legacy endures, years after his death.

An example of a generally positive association with one’s name is the Rooney Rule, which came into being in 2003, and affected the process used in hiring NFL head coaches. The rule, named after former Pittsburgh Steelers owner, Dan Rooney, who was also the chairman of the NFL’s diversity committee at the time, stipulated that all NFL teams, when recruiting to hire a head coach, must interview ethnic-minority candidates during that process. Implementation of the rule has resulted in an increase in the hiring of minority candidates as NFL head coaches.

There’s really no way to prevent your name from (inadvertently) becoming attached to a thing, cause or event, through no fault of your own. The alternative strategy is to slap your name on virtually everything in sight; that way, at least you’ll control the narrative - that’s the tack we intend to take here - so, be on the lookout for: Rule of Three Real Estate Development Company; Rule of Three International Tower; Rule of Three Grand Hotel; Rule of Three Casino & Resort; Rule of Three University; Rule of Three National Golf Club; Rule of Three Media & Technology Group; Rule of Three Steaks; Rule of Three Winery; Rule of Three Airlines; Rule of Three Mortgage & Financial Services; Rule of Three Bottled Water; Rule of Three Magazine; Rule of Three: The Game; Rule of Three Creative Production Studio; Rule of Three Book Publishing; Rule of Three Vodka; Rule of Three Modeling Agency; and Rule of Three Sneakers.

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