The Vice Presidential Name Choice
Repeatability is the most important part of the VP decision
My good friend Molly has a test she applies to all names and titles before she uses them in a piece of public writing. She says them out loud as if she’s asking for them at a movie theater:
“Two tickets for _______, please.”
In the Molly test if the salesperson would easily understand the name and give her the right ticket on the first ask, then the name is good.
“Two tickets for Titanic.” Boom!
“Two tickets for Star Wars.” Yes!
But if it seems when she says the name out loud that the ticket seller might incline his head and utter, “Say again?” then the name is a loser.
“Two tickets for Ishtar.” Huh?
“Two tickets for Mars Needs Moms.” What?
The top two titles above are among the highest grossing films of all time. The bottom two are some of Hollywood’s most expensive box office losers. Many things probably made the losers crash and burn, but I’d argue that a hard-to-say title was the start of their demise. If you can’t say it right you can’t pass it on to a listener nearby. It has no virality.
