Whatever his view of European fashion, he saw the commercial value of publicising a designer's name with the product.

ECONOMIST: Bill Blass

Much of the comedy revolved around the name's suggesting of a feminine-hygiene product.

WSJ: Why Doesn't the New iPad Have a Name?

Before "Xbox Music, " there was " Zune Marketplace" -- while Zune (the hardware) was never anywhere near as successful as the Xbox brand is, the concept of tying the marketplace to a single product name seems confusing at best.

ENGADGET: Xbox: The new face of 'entertainment' at Microsoft, beyond just video games

That's the name of the product, which boasts a memory twice as big as that of conventional CDs.

FORBES: Sony Establishes New, Obsolete CD-ROM Format

One even comes to be fond of a bad name, if the product itself is delightful.

NEWYORKER: A New Page

"When the family name is on the product, that does tend to kind of focus the mind if the CEO is a family member, " he says.

FORBES: Henry Ford's Will

The first 2, 000 buyers will receive a special edition version with a laser-engraved tiger graphic reminiscent of the product's previous name, Blue Tiger.

ENGADGET: Ten One ships $80 Pogo Connect, a pressure-sensitive Bluetooth 4.0 stylus for iPad

Contrary to its name, though, the product that arranges all the routing among these scenarios is not a piece of glass at all but Microsoft's Kinect console.

ENGADGET: Switched On: E3, Screen Two

And that's a problem--the temptation to hook up a hot name with most any product under the sun, while profitable in the short run, only leads to a dilution of the athlete's brand name after a while, experts say.

FORBES: Magazine Article