I’m all for unusual names. But this trend of naming babies after certain foods goes a bit too far, even for my tastes. Now a popular restaurant chain is capitalizing on this wacky trend by offering parents the chance to win $10,000 worth of food… if they name their baby Quinoa.
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is promoting the arrival of two new menu items with a rather unusual challenge. To celebrate two new dishes — a roasted chicken with spinach-quinoa bowl and roasted salmon quinoa bowl — BJ’s is asking consumers to consider naming their baby Quinoa. Really.
“We are so excited to introduce these amazing new quinoa bowls that we wanted to do something big, maybe even a little crazy,” said Kevin Mayer, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse.
BJ’s is betting on the trend of naming newborns after food items like Apple, Kale and Brie, and hoping that somewhere out there is a parent who is willing to allow their child to go through life with Quinoa as a name.
“At the end of the day, we think Quinoa could be a great baby name,”said Mayer. “And who knows? Maybe it will start a trend.”
No, Kevin Mayer. Just no. Now listen, I’m sure your quinoa bowls are delightfully tasty. And that’s super generous that you’d be willing to offer up $10,000 worth of food to the winner. But there is no need to go on record as starting a trend of naming your child after a grain (and not that tasty of a grain at that, let’s be honest). We don’t need to see any little Sorghums or Groats or Lentils running around the playground anytime soon. There’s only one acceptable person we could reach out to about naming your child Quinoa, and that comes from Tiffany Beveridge, who runs the Pinterest page ‘My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler’ and has a book available now. Tiffany had this to say:
I fully endorse the naming of children Quinoa. Not only is it a beautiful name that rolls off the tongue and a superfood that gets stuck in the teeth, but also a giant hipster flag that you can wave in the face of your peers.
While I’m sure this will raise some great promotion for BJ’s quinoa bowls, I really hope people don’t fall prey to this contest and saddle a little one with a name like Quinoa anytime soon. I mean, I guess if worse comes to worst, little Quinoa could have a nickname or go by his or her middle name. But is it really worth it?
In the meantime, those without impending babies — or anyone else who recognizes the complete ridiculousness of this publicity stunt but still likes cheap food — can change his or her first name to Quinoa on Twitter until July 6 and receive a $10 off of a $35 purchase coupon to BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse.
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