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The original names were geared toward women, just as nail polishes are marketed with witty shade names (Essie’s “Ballet Slippers,” “Not Just a Pretty Face,” and “Sole Mate,” for example).

“When it comes to paint names, it’s all about the emotional connection and our research shows that men and women tend to relate to paint names differently,” Alison Goldman, a spokeswoman for CIL Paints, says.

‘‘Studies show that while a larger percentage of women tend to choose paint colours for their home, it’s often men who give the colours a final nod.”

The original idea behind the campaign was to “do something hilarious,” she says. CIL held a Facebook contest in August asking people for manlier monikers in English and French and more than 15,000 responded. CIL’s marketing team chose their favourites (Ms. Goldman’s favourites are Old Sweat Pants and Pimpin’ the Trans-Am) to be featured in-store along with their 1,200 existing colours.

“Paint is such a, I don’t want to say dull, but it’s a less than fascinating product,” she says. “No one else in the paint industry is funny. Every competitor is about the design and the warm fuzzy feelings you get from the colours. We hoped to appeal more strongly to the millenium generation who are going to be just starting getting into painting — new homebuyers, first-time homebuyers, students.”

Ms. Goldman says since the campaign began, they’ve received maybe eight complaints, such as: “Men are more than beer; some of us like ballerina slippers.”

“We’ve had the occasional person who thought it was a little bit condescending. But I’ve yet to see a funny ad campaign that is thrilling to 100% of the world.”

National Post