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parklover
That movie was my first thought also and I wonder how many other people will think the same thing. Marketing should have done a bit of research when picking a name.
It's precisely because of the movie (and novel) why the company's founder chose that name for his product. He wanted the name to create some buzz (which it did!).
As quoted from the
Arstechnica article that I provided at link to in my original post, here is the reason why the inventor of the product, Rob Rhinehart, chose Soylent as the name of his new food alternative product:
When we talked to Soylent inventor Rob Rhinehart last year, we made it a point to ask him about the reasoning behind choosing such a polarizing name. "For food, a lot of people tend to react quickly and not give it a lot of analysis. Piquing curiosity is very important here, and giving the product some kind of flashy marketing name would kind of—people would miss it quickly," he explained. "But the name 'Soylent' is really good for encouraging further discussion and thought. Clearly, I'm wanting someone to investigate it a little deeper if I'm calling it 'Soylent.' It doesn't seem very marketable!"
That oddness, along with Rhinehart’s bold claims about Soylent’s nutritional completeness and efficacy, drove a multimillion-dollar crowdfunding campaign that resulted in tens of thousands of orders.
That sounds like a very successful name to me!
(Besides it's been noted that hipsters and others of the new generation of consumers appreciate a good sense of irony.)
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