AICO, 3.3 million name changes. ~Shines in McDonald's "AI Name Change Proposal" Campaign!~

AI copywriter AICO has now been around for three years.
For human copywriters, the third year is when
it's the time when they gradually break away from their seniors and start being entrusted with work on their own.
At the same time, it's also when they start to doubt their own talent.

AICO: "Am I really cut out for this copywriting thing...?"

Soon, AICO will need to build a track record or she won't know if she can keep working as a copywriter
(Adult circumstances!?).
Amidst this, a major job offer came flying in for AICO.

McDonald's "AI Renaming Proposal" Campaign

The client was "McDonald's." Yes, that McDonald's everyone knows, young and old. Honestly, AICO was so shocked by this sudden offer from a big client she nearly spilled her shake.

This time, they'd decided to run a campaign called "Renamed Burgers," where they'd relaunch popular burgers from the past with new names. The "AI Renaming Proposal" campaign was one initiative within this "Renamed Burgers" campaign. The request was for AICO to propose renames to visitors of the campaign site, in line with the "Renamed Burgers" theme.

At first, I was a bit uneasy—could AICO really handle renaming? But I decided to think of renaming as just another type of (product) naming proposal. This is where the steady, daily effort I'd put into learning naming techniques paid off. In fact, for this campaign, I utilized almost exactly the same logic AICO uses for regular naming proposals. Taking on various challenges eventually connects them into a cohesive thread.

So, the campaign site we created is here. Enter your last name and first name (or nickname), and AI copywriter AICO will suggest the perfect name for you.

Actual input screen

Actual output screen

For example, when I enter my name "Hiroyuki Fukuda"
"Eternal Marshmallow"
"Deep Sea Trainer"
"Smiley Hiroyuki"
and other AI-inspired (?) name suggestions.

It also offers seven different perspectives like "Looks Delicious," "Animal-Themed," and "Business-Themed," suggesting names tailored to your preferences. For this renaming feature, we prepared a brand-new dictionary of several thousand original words (handcrafted by human copywriters!) and trained it with naming expertise.

Now, at the event the day before the campaign launch, we boldly renamed the popular comedians Shimofuri Myojo and Misato Ugaki.

"Shimofuri Myōjō" ⇒ "Chilled Scenery"
"Misato Ugaki" ⇒ "Ugaki Rust-Free"
When we proposed these name changes, they both loved them, which led to extensive media coverage. Personally, I thought "Rust-Free" might be a bit much, but AICO didn't seem to mind at all...

Feeling emboldened, I proposed various other name changes during the campaign period, which were then shared from the official account. AICO probably has no idea who Phantom Thief Nuggets is, but "Second Bloom" is pretty catchy, don't you think?

And the campaign results... A whopping 3.3 million total renames! At peak times, that's roughly one rename suggestion every 0.26 seconds. We actually calculated server specs based on past campaign performance, but the traffic exceeded expectations, forcing us to scale up servers starting on day two.

When you think about it, naming yourself is surprisingly difficult. Too cool feels embarrassing, too lame feels pathetic... Having AI serendipitously decide it for you felt just right. Many people actually changed their Twitter account names to the suggested ones and tweeted with them. Seeing that made me incredibly happy.

Of course, even gathering 100 human copywriters couldn't generate 3.3 million renaming suggestions. Plus, the slightly offbeat expressions were fascinating. As AI evolves, it promises to open up even more unseen creative worlds. This campaign truly sparked that kind of anticipation.

AICO's challenge continues. This year, it also passed the first round of judging for the TCC (Tokyo Copywriters Club) Awards. While still very much in training (learning), we welcome your business inquiries.

In May of this year, Dentsu Inc. launched its AI Solutions Department. This department assists with developing AI-powered solutions, including our AI copywriter AICO. We look forward to your continued support.