The Other Monster

If you are like me, you might have assumed that San Francisco's Monster Park (formerly Candlestick Park) was named for the job hunting site Monster.com. But you'd be wrong!

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the naming contract is coming to a close this year after four years, just in time for me to learn that it's Monster Cable that's been sponsoring it the whole time.

Who the heck is Monster Cable? Other than audiophiles, I don't think anyone has heard of this Brisbane California company that makes audio and video cable. I visited their Wikipedia page: they are engaged in lawsuits with Monster.com, as well as Monster Garage, Monster House, Monsters, Inc., and Monster Energy Drink, to name a few.

Given that that is the case, shouldn't they have insisted on calling it Monster Cable Stadium? Even my husband thought it was Monster.com who was sponsoring the stadium. With the prominent advertising of Monster.com at past Superbowls, this is the first company any football fan is going to think of when they see that name. Just Google "candlestick monster.com" and after you get past a dozen links that talk about people erroneously assume that Monster.com was the sponsor, you get to the hundreds of links from everyday people that say Monster.com is the actual sponsor.

I am reminded of the cowbird that lays its eggs in other birds' nests to be raised and fed by an unwitting mother. The cowbird chick gets all the benefit and will either outcompete it's foster siblings for food or even push them out of the nest. The cowbird's birth mother, meanwhile, makes absolutely no investment, while reaping all the benefit.

Only we are talking about humans here. Obviously Monster Cable knew about the naming confusion even in 2004, or they wouldn't have launched all those lawsuits, but they paid for the naming rights anyway. So not only were they paying their lawyers, they were paying to advertise for another company. Monster Cable, Monster.com has been drinking your $6 million milkshake and you have no one to blame but yourselves.