Offering a $500 prize for helping to name some of its new intermediate class ferry boats, The BC Ferries company started an online "Ferry Naming Contest" on Tuesday.

The company asked participants to suggest names that would:

• reflect BC Ferries and the coastal communities it serves
• appeal to both residents and visitors
• be gender neutral and easy to spell
•  not be geography specific or reference an individual or event

Help us name our new Intermediate Class Ferries for a chance to win! #NameAFerry#BCFerrieshttp://t.co/jwQgoUi7DY^gv pic.twitter.com/3FmEMHAOYC

— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) May 19, 2015

Twitter noticed and the mocking began almost immediately.

@ShadowSham my favourite is Queen of I Should Have Been a Bridge. Or the Christy Clark Ark.

— Aly L (@alinshi) May 21, 2015

Spirit of Monopoly, Queen of the High Fares, Queen of Top Heavy Management, Coastal Greed #NameAFerry

— GeekyOwl (@geekyowl) May 20, 2015

#NameAFerry#bcferries Queen of Highway Robbery

— Shawn Cole (@doctorboss) May 20, 2015

This obvious failure, at least on social media, was noticed by businesses in the area.

The PR team over @BCFerries must be high lettting the public #nameaferry and this will truly be a hilarious #fail. This province hates you.

— Luxury BC (@luxuryinbc) May 20, 2015

Bwahahahahahaaaa! @BCFerries#NameAFerry contest backfires big time on social media http://t.co/HSsjUwDQz8#lol#epicfail#BCFerries

— Tricia Leslie (@Canucklehedd) May 21, 2015

A Vancouver entertainment website gathered some of the less than flattering name submissions.

Among the site's Top 25 names for the ferries:

• The Queen of Transit Monopoly
• Royal Docksitter
• The Floating Crapsickle
• The Spirit of Good Luck Getting Home to Your Family on a Long Weekend
• HMS Cantafford

To see the rest of the list, visit vancitybuzz.

TheBlaze spoke with Deborah Marshall, the ferry company's executive director of public affairs. When quizzed about the entries mocking the contest as well as the ferry service, Marshall told us, "We expected that."

She also added, "In the first 24 hours, we received over 1400 qualified entires...and we expect to receive many many more before the contest ends on June 9."

A panel of judges will comb through all of the submissions and select at least one winner who will receive $500 in travel credit.

Why do I think that I'm going to like the discard pile of names for #bcferries#nameaferry contest more than the ones that win?

— Don Falconer (@TheFalconer) May 19, 2015

TheBlaze asked Marshall if the company might consider releasing a list of its' favorite silly names. She chuckled and replied, "We have no plans to do that. But, you never know."

You must be a resident of British Columbia in order to submit an entry.

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Follow Mike Opelka (@Stuntbrain) on Twitter.