Sometimes I Wonder....

Let's go back to 1999. A small town in Oregon, named Halfway, is offered cash, to the tune of six figures, by auction site Half.com to change its name to Half.com. The municipal government accepts the offer and Half.com gains huge publicity...far beyond what it paid the city.

Fast forward to today. This time, online poker site, Pokershare.com, has its eyes set on a small Kentucky town. The town's name is Sharer, so Pokershare.com has offered a hundred grand in exchange for the town's name to be switched to "Pokershare.com."

More on this can be found here and here.

I'm not sure that I would be proud to live in a town bribed by a company to change its name. By the sounds of it, Half.com (the city) should've asked for a heck of a lot more. Sharer, Kentucky should ask Pokershare.com for a percentage of revenues generated by the renaming of the town, with a clause that says if the amount of money isn't high enough, the name change is null and void.

I liken this to when some of the names of US college bowl games changed to "dot-coms." The Insight.com bowl is an example. I always joked that, eventually, one of the names would be something like "The Ijustsavedawholebunchofmoneyonmycarinsurance.com Bowl." I guess that's what happens when you're willing to sink to any level to gain corporate sponsorship.

Here is an excerpt from the Half.com (the city) website:

"Consisting of hard-working, self-sufficient folks, the town of Half.com is a tight-knit community, full of tradition and camaraderie." Didn't you just throw tradition out the window when you changed your name do a "dot-com?" Then again, it's just proof that the almighty dollar supercedes just about anything.