Name The Price Of Changing Address

The world of sponsorship went to a weird place this week after a mobile phone company offered to pay £250 to anyone prepared to officially include the firm’s name in their house address.

The Snow family outside their renamed home

Talk Talk, which is offering the money to homeowners in return for the ‘naming rights’ to their property for a year, enjoys a high profile at the moment as the main sponsor of TV show The X-Factor.

Despite such glamorous connections, it is hard to imagine that this relatively small sum could persuade anyone to make such a toe-curling commitment.

But as Britain endures a severe recession, some households are evidently happy to oblige and the first family to sign up has already taken delivery of their new nameplate.

They are Elaine and Darren Snow from South Croydon (pictured), who have renamed their neo-Georgian pile ‘Talk Talk Towers’ – perhaps an ironic moniker given the number of mobile phone masts that have sprung up all over the UK.

But the company is playing it safe. Only five variations on a theme are permitted, including Talk Talk Towers, Mansions, Home, House and the peculiar @ – for example, TalkTalk@37 Acacia Avenue.

And who would blame the company? What if their name were to be inserted into Dun’Roaming, for example, or if a customer took revenge on the firm for perceived wrongs with Talk Talk Forge?