Earlier this month, an environmentally-oriented blog posted some interesting research. Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Splenda, has gone out and bought buckets of potentially negative names.
Some examples:
splendasucks.net, .org, .biz, .info
splendakills.net, .org, biz .info
splendatruth.com , .net, .org, .biz, .info
splendapoison.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
thedangersofsplenda.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
thefactsaboutsplenda.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
thesplendadangers.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
thesplendafacts.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
victimsofsplenda.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
thetruthaboutsplenda.net, .org, .biz, .info
thesplendatruth.com, .net, .org, ,biz, .info
splendatoxicity.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
splendatoxicitycenter.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
splendavictims.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info
splendahealth.com
Many, many more here (via Domain Name Wire).
Interestingly, they didn’t manage to get splendasucks.com, which is a blog by fellow who really doesn’t like Splenda (he says it gives him rashes and is made with chlorine).
Now, buying up negative names to control your PR image isn’t new. EarthWeb owns the domain earthwebsucks.com, and I’m sure there are many other examples.
If you know of have any other similar types of activity by corporations, post a comment with more info or contact me directly.
Alex Eckelberry