Not So Punny After All

  

 

     Why are so many coffee shops named with puns? I know it's not because it sells more coffee.  I don't think I'm alone in saying I'd take a sharp turn at Thanks A Latte and head straight to Dunkin' Donuts instead.  I'm not here to make enemies, so I'll leave the local guys out of my rant for today. You know who I'm talking about anyway, right? But I shouldn't pick on coffee shops because there are plenty of full service restaurants, fast-food joints, and bakeries that are also maybe, just maybe, masking a deficient product with a clever wink-wink aren't we cute name on the building. 
      Most of the time they're not terribly clever and can be, in fact, groan inducing. Espresso Yourself? Hmmm. What do they sell? Custard's Last Stand? You guessed it. Custard. Wiener Take All? Yep. That's a real place, too. Where's the subtlety, the poetry, the pizzazz? What if Capogiro was called A Lotto Gelato? Arizona has a chain called Brewed Awakening. I couldn't even bring myself to look inside of it, let alone buy something there. Is that too harsh? Should I not be bothered by this? I'm starting to feel like Jerry Seinfeld, and I can hear his voice in my head reading my words. What's the DEAL with food and coffee puns? AM I RIGHT, PEOPLE?!   
      What bothers me, I guess, is knowing how much work it is to own your own business. The food industry can be especially brutal.  And I know others know this. The ones giving their businesses ridiculous names.  The ones living the investment of heart, soul, sweat, money, time, money, money, and more time.  And I also know that we have the entire English language with which to combine letters into words and words into phrases to name your business.  These other people also know this, and they still call their place Lettuce Souprise You.