Being trendily weird can send signals that weaken trust.

I have come up with plenty of unconventional spellings in naming work, for a number of real reasons.

Sometimes you need the domain.

Sometimes the common word feels too generic.

Sometimes the team wants to look fresh, modern and distinctive.

And sometimes it really works. 

Lyft is an obvious example. You can add Krispy Kreme and Kool Aid to the list.

But the data says those are exceptions, not proof.

Across eight experiments, researchers found that deliberately misspelled brand names reduced purchase intent by meaningful margins.

A mock drink called Clear was chosen 13.6 percent more often than Klear.

Likewise, an app called Daily Gains outperformed Daily Gainz by 19.5 percent in stated download intent.

And a soda called Fresh beat out Phresh by 25.1 percent.

Those are significant differences.

The underlying mechanism is probably not readability, but motive attribution.

When people see a misspelling, they infer intent. It looks like a tactical move.

In the buyer’s brain, that tactic immediately registers as insincere, or worse, sneaky. Once suspicion enters the picture, interest collapses.

I believe this is especially true for everyday products where trust, familiarity, and low cognitive load matter more than memorability.

There are contexts where misspellings can still work:

Experiences.

Entertainment.

Fun food products.

Youth culture.

Categories where novelty is the whole point. Even then, I expect the win often comes despite the spelling, not because of it.

Naming is partly about cleverness. But it’s also about reducing friction at the moment of choice.

If the new name delights your audience, you might have a winner.

But test it!

Then, if you decide to break spelling rules, you do it with eyes open and evidence in hand.

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.