Creators Should Stop Branding Themselves as Sex Toys

Jeff Bezos has inspired me as a marketer and digital creator with his mind-blowing inspirational insights. I have the following on my desktop wallpaper: “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”

I have been planning to write this story for a while now. However, the headline had been sitting in my drafts for a couple of months. Then, last week I read an article that prompted me to wrap it up and hit publish.

Every creator aims for its content to become knowledgeable and trustworthy by the public. Branding helps you achieve this status. By promoting credibility, you make sure readers will keep coming back and trust your trademark.

“Identity is cause; brand is effect, and the strength of the former influences the strength of the latter”— Larry Ackerman

Identity is Cause

Apparently, In 2019, the former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr filed a lawsuit against a company for using his moniker on a sex toy known as “Ring O.”

Ringo challenged the product name claiming that having his name on a penial sex toy could tarnish his brand and reputation as an artist.

Last week, the news was that Ringo Starr had dropped his lawsuit after the company committed to avoiding any activity that could lead to confusion between its product line and the artist.

The agreement states that manufacturers can only use the name on adult toys and sprays, and they must put a space between the word “ring” and the letter “O,” as Ringo Starr is the current owner of the RINGO wordmark.

We might think all is well when it ends well, but there is more to this story than meets the eye.

"Branding is the art of becoming knowable, likable, and trustable." – John Jantsch

Brand is Effect

Ringo Starr, whose real name is Richard Starkey, became known worldwide as the drummer for the Beatles. I understand that “Ringo Starr” has a nice ring to it and a certain macho-sex-appeal vibe that artists revere.

Hence on the road to fame and glory, it was sayonara to “Richard Starkey”; hello “Ringo Starr.” There’s nothing wrong with using a stage name, a pen name, or a moniker. However, creators need to understand how a name becomes the front window to their business core values.

“If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.”— Howard Shultz

This is all part of the marketing game, and many creators go for an artistic pseudonym because they want their brand to be unique and ultimately grow to become a trademark.

However, if you decide to go for a pen name like “RambO Exel” or “ClitO Venus,” please think twice or grow a backbone if you find your moniker advertised online for some new type of sex toy.

Your readers are likely to believe that your new venture is the sex toys industry, and you end up having to dispute in court. In Ringo Starr’s case, the mountain labored and brought forth nothing but an embarrassing agreement.

“To continue winning the internet marketing game, your content has to be more that just brilliant, it has to give the people consuming that content the ability to become a better version of themselves.” — Michelle Stinson Ross, Director of Marketing Operations at Apogee Results

Final Thoughts

I hope that this piece may raise awareness of the crucial importance of branding in any field of online content creation. In this new decade, writers have to look at themselves as creators and marketers to make their voice heard within a Babel of 4.66 billion internet users.

“It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online, and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there at some level.” – Gary Vaynerchuk