What does ‘Plowy McPlowFace’ even mean?

[brenda]

From our local newspaper today:

What does ‘Plowy McPlowFace’ even mean?
ANSWERMAN
What in the name of Rod Carew’s batting stance is a Plowy McPlowFace? I’m befuddled, stunned and annoyed that the state would spend even one dollar to name a snowplow by such a ridiculous name. I mean, at least the other seven snowplow names have some measure of wit to them. Can you explain this? — Adrift on This Trend

Dear Drifty McDriftFace — Oh, I can’t do that to you. Anyway, yes, the votes are in and Plowy McPlowFace was the runaway winner of the MnDOT poll asking folks to name eight snowplows. If you’re not hooked into the internet as I am, you may be unaware that “Blank”-y Mc”Blank”Face is a trend that started a few years back whenever the public is asked to vote and name something.
The big brouhaha that most people claim as the start to this is when Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council ran a name-our-boat contest in 2016, and Boaty McBoatFace won. However, the British Parliament said no. So the boat was named in honor of Sir David Attenborough, a noted naturalist, and an unmanned submarine got the Boaty name instead.
But that public relations fiasco followed in the footsteps of a case in 2012 where a man in England adopted a bird at an owl sanctuary and named it Hooty McOwlFace. All this has led to a bunch of things being named Something-y McSomethingFace. Horses, trains, you name it . . . no pun intended.
Jake Loesch, director for the Office of Communications and Public Engagement at MnDOT, said the snowplow contest began with people filling out an online form, and the state agency received more than 22,000 name suggestions. Of those, Plowy McPlowFace was suggested by more than 800 people, by far the most popular suggestion.
“That name was the most common submission we received,” Loesch said. “And the agency decided to keep it on the finalist list.”
The agency did kick off some suggestions. Political names – Salter Mondale, Tim Plowlenty and Amy Snowbuchar – didn’t make the 50 finalists list. And MnDOT checked with organizations such as the Minnesota Twins to see if people objected to their names being turned into puns like Joe Plower or Road Carew.
In the end, with 122,435 unique voters voting for up to eight names, Plowy won with 65,292 votes while Ope, Just Gonna Plow Right Past Ya took second place with 29,457. Other winners included Duck Duck Orange Truck, Plow Bunyan, Snowbi Wan Kenobi, F. Salt Fitzgerald, Darth Blader and, coming in at No. 8, The Truck Formerly Known As Plow.
And, hey, if Plowy McPlowFace isn’t your thing, take heart. Also on the list was Sir Plows A Lot. Then we’d all be singing, “I like big drifts, and I cannot lie ...”

[AndyD]

@brenda

Darth Blader

[brenda]

@andyd It was a fun contest, perfect as a small distraction during the winter of a pandemic.

I very much enjoyed Answer Man's form of starting the reply to Drifty. Well done, Answer Man!