Funny, the first thing I get when I think of a mastodon is fur, and that it's a huge animal. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder... like most branding, TBH.
Having been in the room when working on branding, there's always plausible objections unless the brand is completely anodyne, and by extension terminally forgettable. At the end of the day you just have to go with something that isn't terrible.
In the world of outdoor equipment alone, two of the brands I like the most were named after extinct animals; Arc’teryx (referring to the Archaeopteryx) and Mammut (mammoth). Both of whom you will find a lot of products from in any decent sports store.
And it’s not just the names — look at their logos.
The first one is straight up the fossil skeleton of the animal they based their name on! If that doesn’t spell extinction I don’t know what does.
These two companies make jackets, climbing harnesses, trekking shoes, backpacks and more.
I doubt that either of these two that I mentioned have been negatively impacted by the fact the animals they have based their names and logos on are extinct.
(My personal opinion is that it makes them cooler even — the prehistoric times and the animals that used to roam the earth are very fascinating to me. And I think a lot of people agree. Look for example at how popular the Jurrasic Park movies were. People love this stuff, don’t they?)
Well, isn’t that the point? The intended association is supposed to be with paleontology, a type of outdoors excursion. It’s aspirational marketing—maybe if you wear an Arc’teryx jacket you’ll be equipped to go out in the wilderness and discover ancient fossils or something.
Having been in the room when working on branding, there's always plausible objections unless the brand is completely anodyne, and by extension terminally forgettable. At the end of the day you just have to go with something that isn't terrible.