Just when we had purged our word processing programs of Prince's old glyph, along comes Sean ''Puffy'' Combs. In a March 28 interview, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy announced his new moniker: P. Diddy. ''[If you see] 'Puffy' in the paper, it has a lot of baggage with it,'' said the hip hop impresario, who was recently cleared of gun possession and bribery charges. ''I just need a fresh start.'' Combs won't legally change his name and insists he won't be as much of a stickler as another perpetual alias maker: ''I am not doing it as serious as Prince -- I'm not gonna be just crazy with it.''
Phew. Still, experts in the name game offer Combs a split decision. ''I don't think P. Diddy really helps him,'' says Lynn Haviland, president of name consulting firm Applebaum Associates, who christened Surge for Coca-Cola and Snackwells for Nabisco. ''A ditty is a short simple song of little or no importance. It trivializes what he does.'' Rival name pro James Dettore of Brand Institute disagrees: ''It's really quite clever,'' he says of the swap. '''Puff Daddy': It's old, it's staid. This new 'P. Diddy' is younger, it's fresh.'' Freshly acquitted, that is.
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