NWA and 50 Cent

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Last week, Northwest Airlines announced that it planned to introduce a new low-fare carrier to compete with United’s “Ted” and Delta’s soon-to-be eliminated “Song” (and of course, the mainstays of the low-fare movement, Southwest and JetBlue).

Although Catchword has not been engaged to name this new carrier, the solution is so obvious, we figured we would post it for public display so we can claim credit for it later.

For the last few years, Northwest Airlines has used “NWA” as its shorthand moniker. Given the somewhat obvious and somewhat unfortunate connection to the ill-fated gangsta rap group of the same name, one name immediately rises to the top of candidates for the new discount carrier: 50 Cent.

Other candidates that were also in contention include Too Short, Half Pint, L’il Kim, and Skinny Pimp.

We recommend against The Lost Boys, Notorious B.I.G., and Detroit’s Most Wanted. I’m no expert, but none of those seems quite right.

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Maria is Co-Founder & Creative Director of Catchword Branding and has personally created hundreds of brand names, including Asana, Upwork, Vudu, and

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