Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Jo Raphael: Don't give jabs a bad name

The new mobile vaccine service's name is being crowdsourced. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Asking the public to name things can be risky.

And you really get what you ask for.

The British Government found this out the hard way when, back in 2016, it called on the internet community to come up with a name for a new polar research vessel.

Dignified names suggested by the Natural Environment Research Council (Shackleton, Endeavour, Falcon), were cast aside and the request quickly devolved into hilarity, with social media users vying to come up with the funniest name, crashing the polling website used.

The whole episode could be thrown into the "it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time" basket.

The ship, which was eventually named the RRS David Attenborough, almost ended up with RRS Boaty McBoatface - which by far scored the most votes. The research council decided to overrule the internet.

In 2007, Greenpeace, working to raise awareness about Japan's plan to hunt 50 humpback whales per year, asked the internet to name a humpback that is being tracked by a satellite tag.

The internet stepped up with Mister Splashypants, and after a bit of reluctance, Greenpeace adopted the name. It worked - so it seems - the Japanese government abandoned the humpback hunting plan that same year.

This week in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put the call out to Kiwis to name a new "Mr Whippy"-style mobile vaccination service (and with about a third of the population in level 4 lockdown, I'm sure there were those with a bit of time on their hands who would have come up with some crackers).

Ardern has narrowed the field down to four entries: Jabba Waka, Shot Bro, Jabbin' Wagon and Vaxi Taxi.

I have my favourite, but I don't want to sway potential voters.

Six buses set off on Thursday morning with the aim of encouraging people to get vaccinated, targeting areas where vaccination numbers are low or where communities are finding it harder to access the services. The fleet is expected to double in the coming weeks.

No matter what the service is called, I'm hoping if the initiative is successful in Auckland it could be rolled out to other regions including the Bay of Plenty.

Ardern must be comfortable with any of the four names because she should commit to whatever the people decide.

In my view, crowdsourcing names shouldn't really be attempted unless you are committed to the end results.

Luckily, Ardern has ruled out Bussy McBusface, still no word on Jabby McJabface.