"La-Z-Boy" or "Lay-Z-Boy"?
- Carter Tweed
The famous reclining chair brand had a great hook in its name - "Lay"-Z-Boy, to show you could lay down in them too. Or did it? Look today, and you'll find the brand is actually "La-Z-Boy". Did it change, or are those who remember the "old" way experiencing the Mandela Effect?
Founded in 1927, the brand has been, so to speak, part of the furniture for generations. This is always worth bearing in mind when dealing with branding changes. The business owners know only too well the value of a well-established brand name, so are unlikely to tinker with it, having invested millions over the years, without a very good reason.
Did the branding change at some point?
This is another one which could be explained by the fact the pronunciation in both cases is identical, so some writing it down might just mis-spell it and it's that which caught on.
Competition
The name came from a competition held by the company founders, cousins Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker, in 1927. They had made a prototype with an early version of the famous sliding mechanism, but couldn't come up with a name for it, so they held a contest and La-Z-Boy came out the winner.
Companies
There are multiple companies under the La-Z-Boy parent which don't have the familiar name in the branding. These include Hammary Furniture England Furniture Incorporated, American Drew, Kincaid Furniture and Bauhaus USA Furniture. There are over 150 retail stores in the US, and the company owns over 200 patents covering different styles and mechanisms for its furniture.
Pronounced the same
This is one of those Mandela Effects where people mainly hear the term in question without paying much attention to how it looks written down. It's more often seen with made-up terms such as this one. The problem is some of the people this affects did actually pay attention, so they are the ones who are sure it's changed.