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On a recent writing retreat1, we got talking about ‘folk branding’ – Nick Asbury’s observation that local businesses called ‘Mr’ something (Mr Meats the butchers; Mr Kleen the dry cleaners; Mr Maggot the, um, fishing supplies shop) are instinctively conjuring up a crude-yet-effective ‘brand personality’. (Check out the Tone Knob on ‘Mr Blog and the vanishing art of folk branding’.)
One of the other writers there, Martin Lee, has a similar obsession. He’d been collecting examples of local businesses with pun-tastic names for over twenty years. Hmm, there might be a Tone Knob in this, I thought. Send a few over, I said.
And he did. And. Oh, wow.
I found that pretty quickly I became mildly hysterical. See if the same happens to you. (It might be a particularly British reaction.)
The gold standard, according to Martin, Bristol’s legendary mobile kebab emporium…:
Although, Jason is not the only celebrity immortalised by a local trade. There’s also the Chilled & Frozen Food Courier…
Your cheery pair of local painters…
And if you’re after a bottle of wine, you’re in luck! You’ve got a choice of two celebrity establishments:
Ironing services are well represented…:
There’s some sublime sub-flooring punning here:
Kapow! An excellent super-hero gag here. Dinner dinner dinner dinner…
These two feel like they belong to the same, um, naming family?
Hands in the air for this Scottish music shop:
Unsurprisingly, the collection featured a fair bit of innuendo:
Martin pointed out there’s a lovely sub-category of businesses who save the pun for the strapline. Loving Belfast’s ‘Captain Courier’23.
Though this is my favourite. An absolute humdinger. Flooring contractor Richard McKinlay has both a punning riff on his own name and a punning strapline. Absolutely outstanding work.
I asked Martin what he’d gleaned from two decades of pun-hunting. He said brands would do well to remember these three things:
Have fun. Big brands are often scared to really go for it with their words. These guys are giving people a smile, making a connection, and adding to the stock of joy in the world.
Be humble. Many of us who write for a living think we’re super smart with words. But are we really any better than hauliers, pet groomers or scaffolders? (Frankly, I’d consider writing ‘hello, is it me you’re looking floor’ as a career highlight.)
Notice how durable a good pun is. Jason Dovervan has been around for over twenty years! Many customers weren’t even born when their namesake was at the height of his fame, but they instinctively know it’s a banger – and post endless pics of it on the socials. (Admittedly, this is not always the case. Cement company Jim’ll Mix It had to re-brand sharpish in 2012…)
Have you got examples of similar pun-tastic trades? Hit reply and let me know, or share with Martin direct: martin@acacia-avenue.com.
Also, follow Martin on Substack, where he writes about his forthcoming book, Between: Exploring Borderlands, Boundaries and Edges. It’ll be published by Zer0 Books in the UK (Simon & Schuster in the US) in September. It sounds excellent, though alas I think the pun count will be a little lower.
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Run by the excellent Dark Angels gang.
Finaghy is an area of south Belfast, for those who prefer their jokes over-explained ;-)
Martin also told me about one of his favourites he sadly wasn’t able to photograph in time: A local haulage company with the slogan: ‘Berlin, Paris, London and Grantham. But mostly Grantham.’