Recently bankrupted retail brand Toys ‘R’ Us is auctioning off its intellectual property as part of efforts to repay creditors, Reuters reports. Included in these assets are mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe, the Babies ‘R’ Us brand, and numerous kinky domain names the company purchased, like adult-toys-r-us.com.
It’s not unusual for a company like Toys ‘R’ Us to register numerous alternative domain names — it’s a safeguard against people who might want to use the brand’s popularity to their advantage. Among the URLs purchased by Toys ‘R’ Us and now up for sale are sex-toys-r-us.com, kinkytoysrus.com, and aforementioned adult-toys-r-us.com. There are also more benign domain names, like toysrussucks.com, burgers-r-us.com, and cigars-r-us.com.
Brand specialist and chief executive of the Retail Doctor consulting firm, Bob Phibbs, spoke to Reuters, saying, “I’m sure they were laughing and drinking Red Bull and then just came up with every iteration they could.”
Although Toys ‘R’ Us tried to play catch-up with more agile digital competitors (trying tactics like an in-store AR app last year), it announced in March that it was closing or selling all of its US stores. CEO David Brandon placed the blame on vendors and customers who neglected to support the company during the holiday season, saying during a staff conference call that they “will all live to regret what’s happening here.”
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