RSS Boaty McBoatface (polar research ship naming competition)

[Bletchleyite]

Didn't think Boaty McBoatface would stick

 

[me123]

Aww... I wanted to see RRS Boaty McBoatface hit the seas . It would have served as a global reminder about the sensible use of social media! Attenborough is, on a more serious note, a brilliant name and my own personal favourite.

Fans of Boaty need not fear however - RRS David Attenborough shall carry a small submersible vessel called... "Boaty McBaotface"

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

RRS Sir David Attenborough it is then, sounds a bit more sensible than the childish Boatface.

http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/06/new-r...id-attenborough-not-boaty-mcboatface-5864080/

As far as I'm concerned, Democracy is DEAD.
I never voted for that name but it won fair and square.
It was a valid name, unique fun, and well known.
Next all votes will be ignored for the Raving Mad Lunatic Party for the same reason. A vote being delibratly ignored is anti freedom of expression.

If it were today, we'd have never allowed Beagle or Nimrod too I suspect.

 

[DarloRich]

did anyone ACTUALLY think this vessel was ever going to be named Boaty McBoatface? really?

The RSS were always going to reject such silly names. It is hardly unprecedented for an on line poll to be hijacked in such a way.

 

[DaleCooper]

Let's face it, it was a brilliant piece of PR, without the vote many people would never have known it existed.

 

[Railops]

I imagine the vast majority of people who voted for the stupid name were probably still at school as I know there was an orchestrated campaign in schools.
My daughter's school even mentioned it in the assembly as the one to go for.

 

[DarloRich]

I imagine the vast majority of people who voted for the stupid name were probably still at school as I know there was an orchestrated campaign in schools.
My daughter's school even mentioned it in the assembly as the one to go for.

and? What is the issue? The "stupid name" was never going to be chosen!

 

[ExRes]

As far as I'm concerned, Democracy is DEAD.
I never voted for that name but it won fair and square.
It was a valid name, unique fun, and well known.
Next all votes will be ignored for the Raving Mad Lunatic Party for the same reason. A vote being delibratly ignored is anti freedom of expression.

If it were today, we'd have never allowed Beagle or Nimrod too I suspect.

I'm not sure if your post is actually serious or written with tongue in cheek, whatever though, I believe that the 'naming' idea was for suggestions, I think you'll find that the word suggestion means something that is suggested for consideration, it was never a case of the suggestion leader being used as a serious name

'Anti freedom of expression'?, please

 

[Johnuk123]

I imagine the vast majority of people who voted for the stupid name were probably still at school as I know there was an orchestrated campaign in schools.
My daughter's school even mentioned it in the assembly as the one to go for.

I didn't know it was so widespread when my 16 yr old told me she'd been told to get on line and vote for some ship I thought it was only at her school.

 

[dcsprior]

Maybe people and the media will still refer to it as Boaty McBoatface, but it's official name will be David Attenborough. That'd perhapsbbe the best of both worlds - its choosen name for everyday use, but a sensible official name if the boat was ever involved in an accident, etc

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[12CSVT]

RRS Sir David Attenborough it is then, sounds a bit more sensible than the childish Boatface.

http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/06/new-r...id-attenborough-not-boaty-mcboatface-5864080/

Can we have an online petition for Mr Attenborough to change his name to Boaty McBoatface ?

(Yes, I know the spoilsports in Government would just block it, like with the petition for Mrs Windsor to be called Crossrail)

 

[DaleCooper]

Can we have an online petition for Mr Attenborough to change his name to Boaty McBoatface ?

What would happen to the old joke?

"What do you call a man who loses his hat down a rabbit hole?"

 

[phoenixcronin]

I'm glad they chose a respectable name, as it would be a national embarrassment for a serious research vessel to be named "BoatyMcBoatface" just because some trolls hijacked a poll.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think they should have got themselves a bit more entertaining publicity by running with it right up to the launch.

 

[swt_passenger]

Pedantic question.

Will they really include 'Sir' in the ship's name? Despite all the media reports, the convention with previous RRS namings has been that only the name is used, not the title.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'm glad they chose a respectable name, as it would be a national embarrassment for a serious research vessel to be named "BoatyMcBoatface" just because some trolls hijacked a poll.

Indeed, and all those who were pushing for the silly name will now be known as Eggy McEggface.

 

[Domh245]

I imagine the vast majority of people who voted for the stupid name were probably still at school as I know there was an orchestrated campaign in schools.

A lot of them may well have also been based in the US. It really took off on a number of websites with a large number of American users (and has spawned many parodies over there as well, eg bussy mcbusface)

 

[Tetchytyke]

I think they should have got themselves a bit more entertaining publicity by running with it right up to the launch.

They've decided to name one of their underwater remote-operated research machines Boaty McBoatface.

https://twitter.com/NERCscience/status/728508385692418048

 

[me123]

I'm not sure if your post is actually serious or written with tongue in cheek, whatever though, I believe that the 'naming' idea was for suggestions, I think you'll find that the word suggestion means something that is suggested for consideration, it was never a case of the suggestion leader being used as a serious name

'Anti freedom of expression'?, please

Agreed. The people who run this should have taken lessons from previous examples. Like when Mountain Dew ran a similar campaign to name a new Apple flavoured drink - they had to stop it when the winning names (at least the ones I can mention here) included "Diabeetus" and "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong".

They should, perhaps, have taken a suggestion from the Scottish and New Zealand Governments, who ran high profile campaigns to name the New Forth Bridge and replace their national flag respectively. They welcomed suggestions and narrowed it down to a shortlist. In Scotland, we had a good sensible list of names to choose from (Queensferry Crossing, St Margaret's Crossing, Caledonia Bridge), and New Zealanders got some really good flags. There were still some silly entires (May The Forth Be With You, and these interesting flags) that were vetoed on the grounds of appropriateness.

To compare it to a national election is not really accurate. People generally engage with democracy in a positive and informed way - after all, the elected candidate will be representing you at some form of government. As such, the loonies and other comedy parties are unlikely to get any real foothold. On the other hand, very few of us will be directly affected by the name of a research ship, other than perhaps laughing when HM states "I name this ship Boaty McBoatface". Besides, this is not a legally binding poll, as parliamentary elections are. This was a glorified suggestion box.

 

[TheEdge]

Meanwhile everyone is talking about an Antarctic research ship. Best PR stunt ever, no way could NERC ever have hoped for this level of engagement.

I mean no one is talking this much about the 4 other NERC vessels or the two BAS ships, HMS Protector or the literally dozens of other UK registered research vessels.

 

[talltim]

All we have to do now is get David Attenborough to change his name to Boaty McBoatface and everyone is happy

 

[backontrack]

Agreed. The people who run this should have taken lessons from previous examples. Like when Mountain Dew ran a similar campaign to name a new Apple flavoured drink - they had to stop it when the winning names (at least the ones I can mention here) included "Diabeetus" and "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong".

You stole that from Jon Holmes!

Personally, I'd have preferred the RRS Dr. John Rae - while Attenborough is a national treasure (the only one fully deserving of the term) and one of the greatest Brits ever, it's not like his legacy will go unheralded like Rae's. Attenborough will have all sorts of things named after him - but what about the polar explorer that found the fabled North Western Passage and succeeded where Franklin failed? Even Holyrood seems to have forgotten him.

 

[me123]

You stole that from Jon Holmes!

I had to Google who that was - no I didn't, I don't listen to Radio X. It's actually quite common knowledge, that's been rehashed repeatedly in the last few weeks due to this story.

 

[yorksrob]

Meanwhile everyone is talking about an Antarctic research ship. Best PR stunt ever, no way could NERC ever have hoped for this level of engagement.

I mean no one is talking this much about the 4 other NERC vessels or the two BAS ships, HMS Protector or the literally dozens of other UK registered research vessels.

There was some talk a few years back when HMS Endurance was withdrawn .....resulting in the invasion of the Falkland Islands !

 

[backontrack]

I had to Google who that was - no I didn't, I don't listen to Radio X. It's actually quite common knowledge, that's been rehashed repeatedly in the last few weeks due to this story.

Oh.

 

[90019]

I had to Google who that was - no I didn't, I don't listen to Radio X.

He did a thing about it on The Now Show a while back and included those examples, but they are relatively well known after all the reporting recently.

 

[backontrack]

Even though the boat will now be named the RRS Sir David Attenborough, perhaps there is still one more way?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

That futile naming exercise only brought about the type of publicity in the voting campaign that attracts people with the mindset of those avid watchers of "Ballamory" with the comparative lack of a mature intelligence to suit.

 

[backontrack]

That futile naming exercise only brought about the type of publicity in the voting campaign that attracts people with the mindset of those avid watchers of "Balamory" with the comparative lack of a mature intelligence to suit.

I disagree. Think about all the people who would be attracted to polar science! It would have certainly got young people interested in it, and, if they created a social media account called 'BoatyMcBoatfaceOfficial', they could take photos of their expeditions and suchlike, and circulate them, showing people what they get up to. Surely that can't be a bad thing?

 

[TheKnightWho]

That futile naming exercise only brought about the type of publicity in the voting campaign that attracts people with the mindset of those avid watchers of "Ballamory" with the comparative lack of a mature intelligence to suit.

Confusing silliness with immaturity is a sign of immaturity.