The Daily Interview: What's in a Kid's Name? Plenty, if You're Selling It

They're not exactly selling their son's soul, but Jason Black and Frances Shroeder are trying to sell his name -- and for $500,000, no less.

Jason Black Business Editor Internet World

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The Mount Kisco, N.Y., couple posted ads on eBay and Yahoo! last week to auction the right to name their baby son, born a week ago today, for a minimum bid of half a million dollars. No offers came in and both sites removed the postings when they learned they weren't the exclusive listers. The peculiar offer probably would have faded into oblivion were it not for a public relations friend of Black's who pitched the story to a reporter at USA Today.

The initial story quickly led to articles and appearances across the country and even the world, publicity that Black believes has been the equivalent of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign. Black, who works as the business editor at trade publication Internet World, claims the widespread attention his bizarre story has garnered justifies the value of his offer, and that a publicity-seeking company would now get off cheaply for the right to name his son for $500,000.

Black says he's about to enter into negotiations with a privately held consumer products company whose identity he does not yet know, because he's been contacted only by an intermediary. But he's said he won't agree to a deal that would require his baby son -- whom he's privately calling Zane -- to appear in advertisements or publicity stunts, and would probably draw the line at inappropriate names like Playtex, Trojan or Kibbles 'n Bits.

TSC: How did you come up with this idea?

Black: It's going to sound goofy, but it's really true. We had Chinese food for dinner and a fortune cookie my wife got said, "You will have a new home by the end of the year." We started talking about it because that's the dream of every American family.

We started thinking about what we could do to make that idea a reality, and, more broadly, how to guarantee the future of our children. We started thinking, why shouldn't some sponsor help make all of this possible? Why shouldn't someone or some entity pay for it? There are sponsors for buildings, for athletes. Recently, General Motors pledged $10 million to rename a wing of the Smithsonian. Our thinking was, well, even though this happens to inanimate objects, why not a person?

TSC: Did you get any bids from the auction sites?

Black: No. But over the weekend, two individuals on behalf of businesses contacted us privately via email, claiming that they wanted to talk to us about this opportunity. As of Monday, only one of those individuals had gotten back to us. We are now in the process of working through some legal documents that this agent wants us and the corporation to sign in order to guarantee him a fee. He expects the company to pay him in exchange for introducing us to them.

TSC: What's the nature of this company's business and what do they expect of you?

Black: All he has been able to tell us so far is that it's a privately held consumer products company. We have gone back and forth for the past day and a half with this document, which is just the initial phase. As far as what they want, we don't know yet.

TSC: So how exactly would this work? What kinds of rights will you be willing to relinquish and for what period of time, and what kind of a company are you willing to work with? Would you be willing, for example, to call your son something like Trojan?

Black: The minimum bid is $500,000 and we will only work with a company that is doing interesting work or that has a product we can respect. All of the details remain to be determined. Ultimately, we would only be willing to relinquish very little. I hardly think we would be willing to subject our son to having to appear in advertisements or wear logo-emblazoned clothing. But I would be willing to publicly call our son by whatever name the company chose and he would have to live with that name at least up until the age 18, when the state of New York makes it legally possible for a person to change their name.

TSC: You mean to say that he would have to be called this name even in school?

Black: Sure, if that's what's stipulated. The name could very well be on his birth certificate. [Today] is the deadline for us to select a name for his birth certificate, and most likely we'll put our private name, Zane. But should a company come along with a name, we will look into amending his certificate, if necessary.

TSC: What if a company came up with a crazy name like Heinz 57, Jello, Fruit of the Loom, Schlitz or Kibbles 'n Bits? Would you be willing to call your son by one of those names?

Black: No. ... Again, we are talking about a private company. We are probably talking about a company that no one has heard about before. My understanding is that it is some up-and-coming company that wants to make a name for itself, wants to make a splash. For all we know, it's a name we can't pronounce.

TSC: It seems as if there could be a lot of complications involved in a deal, should you strike one, and that you will have to protect your rights. Have you hired a lawyer?

Black: Just to deal with this first part, concerning this document the agent wants us and the company to sign to guarantee him his fee, we have contacted a lawyer who has recommended changes to some of the wording. To protect our rights, we expect we will eventually have to hire an intellectual property lawyer. After all, we are selling an idea.

TSC: Companies are sponsoring more and more unlikely things -- everything from baseball stadiums to university classrooms. Do you think having a sponsor for a human being is taking our commercialized society a step too far?

Black: Perhaps in some way this is a commentary about that, although I don't know that was ever our intention. But if you look around you, you'll see that most every stadium is named after some corporation. It's everywhere you look, so why not take it to this other level?

TSC: How did the whole media frenzy begin?

Black: The story first appeared in USA Today last week, and the only way we managed to land the attention of USA Today was because a friend of mine who works in public relations volunteered to make some calls. He found this reporter who said she was interested and we had to do a lot of convincing because she recently got burned by a story that was a hoax.

Then the phone started ringing last Thursday morning, and the very first call that came in was from The Today Show. I went on last Friday morning and was interviewed by Katie Couric, which was quite an experience. It was clear Katie did not like this idea; she called it "creepy."

Immediately after, we appeared on CNN, and I've done every radio talk show you can think of, including BBC Radio in London and a radio station based out of Bogota, Colombia. The New York Daily News and the Post have covered it, and I just did a taping for MSNBC on television.

TSC: Would you be willing to appear on, say, Howard Stern's show to promote your offer?

Black: Yeah, I would do Howard's show if he called. But I wouldn't have my wife do it. He can make jokes if he wants, that's fine. As long as I can bring the conversation back to what we are trying to accomplish.