old stuff that renamed itself for the nü internet postmodern age

just noticed that folk roots is now fRoots

what are some of the more embarrassing renamings designed to keep pace with the kidz?

ilxor.com

I kid, I kid!

radioshack ---> the shack

mountain dew became mtn dew

could get that down to a lazy "mn du"

"Nat Geo"

cigarette-aping children's confectionery FAGS lost the red-dyed tip on the end and are now named FADS

AMC (formerly American Movie Classics)

"Nat Geo" is so bad

Federal Express became FedEx.
I think Kentucky Fried Chicken is now officialy KFC.

And I can remember when MasterCharge became MasterCard, but that was just for ease of pronunciation (by furriners).

and international house of pancakes is ihop

lol @ froots

WaMu

SyFy

^ good1

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/pizza-hut-changes-its-name.aspx?GT1=33009

citibank becoming "citi"

The Pizza Hut article is full of gold:

"Pizza Hut has recently expanded its menu beyond pizza to include pasta, giving it some reason to alter its branding. Media and advertising trade publication MediaWeek characterized the name change as an attempt to transform its stores into hip hangouts. There are more than 10,000 Pizza Huts worldwide."

Hipsters are easy that way.

"The new "Hut" stores will be more than simply places to place a delivery order, according to MediaWeek. They will include televisions that broadcast programs such as "Wheel of Fortune" and "Entertainment Tonight.""

Nothing attracts hipsters more than "Wheel of Fortune".

"The company has tried to become more hip and youth-friendly in recent months. In April, it introduced the Pizza Hut "Twintern," an employee who uses the online service Twitter to update customers about store events and pop culture news."

Noted without comment..........oh fuck "Twintern"......

"This isn't the first time for Pizza Hut parent Yum Brands to change the branding of one of its iconic restaurant chains, which include Taco Bell. In 1991, the company rebranded Kentucky Fried Chicken as KFC. Recently, to highlight the company's healthier grilled chicken offerings, the company has referred to the KFC brand as KGC."

KGC??? It sounds awkward, like a protein you have a blood test to check for.

In Soviet Union, KGC grills you.

So Co

I think FedEx has been a thing for years and years.

"Pizza Hut has recently expanded its menu beyond pizza to include pasta,

Err, havent PH sold shitty spag bol since forever?

Vegemite -> iSnack 2.0? Cheesybite?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/global/03vegemite.html

Thought about that but it wasnt vegemite that was renamed, its a new product theyve made. Still... iSnack? Ugh.

I think Kentucky Fried Chicken is now officialy KFC.

It's been KFC in the UK since way before internet use was widespread. They're actually changing it back to Kentucky Fried Chicken soon.

This phenomenon is largely indefensible.

Could a mod googleproof this thread please? I've got a dope example from my current place of employment.

Deindexed.

Okay, my college runs a lot of courses for 16-18 year-olds who haven't achieved much in the way of qualifications at school, the idea is to develop their ability to learn, do some key skills teaching and signpost them onto vocational qualifications. These courses used to be called Tracks, but this year, for no obvious reason, they've been re-branded as: iFutures. woo happening

The Roman Emperor has renamed himself iClavdivs.

haaa nice one.

islamic leaders now call themselves iMams

iSlam

Speaking of religion...

!Audacious Church, Manchester

The 34th President of the United States is now known as iSenhower.

I'm surprised that Norcal and Socal (horrible terms) haven't been shortened to the much more urbane Noca/Soca yet. I'm going to start saying these.

Funny that peeps thought there was a thread, but 0/20 so far. I mean...KFC? Time for an alternate thesis.

"the hut" is the worst of all of these

Why doesn't KFC count?

(not that it's new, I thought it'd been called "KFC" for decades)

Damn the flippant hipster who "ironically" put De La Soul in charge of renaming all the fast food chains.

Really looking forward to eating a sandwich at The Way or enjoying a square-shaped hamburger from wEnd-Days.

Really couldn't think of something clever De La Soul would call Wendy's.

three feet high and wendy's

s1ocks <3 :D

Why doesn't KFC count?

― hulk would smash (Trayce), Thursday, 19 November 2009 15:32

good question, I wonder if Trayce has any ideas?

(not that it's new, I thought it'd been called "KFC" for decades)

― hulk would smash (Trayce), Thursday, 19 November 2009 15:33

hey, that's right!

three feet high and wendy's

― Alf, Lord Melmacsyn (s1ocki), Thursday, November 19, 2009 6:33 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

lol was gonna go with three beefs but i feel u

Ah fuck off kit.

'SyFy'. apparently done, like 'Pentium' etc, because the term they were previously using (Sci-Fi, 586...) wasn't trademarkable.

People always called it KFC, but the restaurant changing its formal name is a different matter entirely. Not such a great sin, although I heard a rumor that the idea was to obscure the meaning of the acronym and hawk the "Kitchen Fresh Chicken" brand ("Kentucky" and "Fried" implying provinciality and heart disease). Not sure of the truth of any of that though....

There was also a rumour that they did it to obscure the 'fact' that it's not chicken...

Not to be that guy that links a Homestar cartoon but I really love this one pizza jointin which "Strong Bad's Strong Badian Pizza Palace" gets hepped up as:

http://hrwiki.org/w/images/2/2d/The_Pizz_Logo.png

I prefer all of these dumbed-down, initalified, trendhopping names to corporate stadium renamings, in terms of fucking with tradition or whatever.

I've always thought it was done to make it more international - easy to say, no specific meaning, and a simple, bold logo.

"KFC" has been officially used since 1991.

"no specific meaning" - this is part of the problem with a lot of these, right? Why be Pizza Hut when you can just be THE HUT, or Radio Shack as THE SHACK - - - I kind of LIKE the idea that the restaurant name gives some sense of what they serve at the restaurant, or even just the fact that it is a restaurant as opposed to a bank, or an ad agency...

i know fedex has been fedex for a while now, but i still lol when i see "fedex express" actually written out on ads and stuff.

Not to be that guy that links a Homestar cartoon but I really love this one pizza jointin which "Strong Bad's Strong Badian Pizza Palace" gets hepped up as:

would be better if they pronounced it "the peats"

Ah fuck off kit.

http://aptenobytes.typepad.com/aptenobytes/images/_scribblings_archives_ambermouse_5_2_05_24.jpg

angry -> iRate

it's dumb because no one goes to Pizza Hut because it's cool and hip, they go there because they were raised on gross fast-food pizza and shit triggers nostalgic memories of being 8 and having mom take you out for pizza.

totally. to be honest, i think it actually was better when i was a kid. the recipe was different.

i know fedex has been fedex for a while now, but i still lol when i see "fedex express" actually written out on ads and stuff.

i get irrationally angry whenever i'm reminded that kinko's is now called fedex office. kinko's was a great standalone brand and now it's subsumed under just another huge corporate umbrella. (this is really more of a david v. goliath thing than a crappy-name thing.)

but fedex fails because i will never call the product formerly known as kinko's anything but "kinko's."

i legit forgot that "fedex office" was the new name for kinko's until, like, last week. i had to print out some directions and i drove all the way across town to go to the one kinko's i had prior experience with. turns out there's a fedex office right down the street from my house, only i didn't have any idea what it was.

to twist the knife even further the name on my billing statement was still "fedex kinkos."

http://www.ibux.co.uk/

yeah, not sure how the decision to go ahead with these renamings is actually reached

"the kids aren't texting about us fast enough!"

Sad, nagging feeling that "Kinko's" was too ethnic.

The real sign is having some sort of publication that your company is now participating in an internet fad, Facebook, Twitter etc.

Sad, nagging feeling that "Kinko's" was too ethnic.

Or maybe just too much like "kinky" or the following (lots of exposure on the Dr Demento show).

Kinko, Kinko, the kid-loving clown
if the kids just love me back I'll never wear a frown
Kinko, Kinko, the kid loving clown
if the kids just love me back I'll never wear a frown!!!

Kinko's in his Kinko car, pockets full of change
lots of dirty pictures and sticky candy canes.
All the kids love Kinko for the presents that they get
silly leather clothes to wear and happy cigarettes.

-Hi boys and girls, my name is Kinko the clown!!!
-Hi Kinko!!!
-And I really love you boys and girls!!!
Really, really....
-Awwww
-But my legs get tired standing out in the parking lot handing out
stale tootsie rolls to you rugrats, so if anyone wants to come back
to Kinko's trailer and massage his legs, he'd really really like it.
Really, really.....

Kinko, Kinko, the kid-loving clown
if the kids just love me back I'll never wear a frown
Kinko, Kinko, the kid loving clown
if the kids just love me back I'll never wear a frown!!!

We go to Kinkos clubhouse, sometimes after school
we play in Kinkos crawl space, there's never any room
We have to sit on Kinkos lap there's never any chairs
Kinko likes to tickle us and give us funny stares.

-Gee I haven't had this much fun since Christmas when I got
to play Santa Clause and all the boys and girls got to sit on Kinko's lap-
-Mommy mommy! Kinko hurt me!-
-But that was in Indianapolis and thanks to the liberal reciprocity laws here
Kinko can be with you boys and girls today or anytime.

Jimmy Johnson ran away and didn't say goodbye
Kinko went to look for him to help the FBI
But Kinko has some handcuffs on, his eyes were full of tears
said "I'll be back to play with you, sometime in 20 years!"

Kinko, Kinko, the kid-loving clown
the parents wanna beat me up and run me outa town!
Kinko, Kinko, the kid-loving clown
tar and feather Kinko and run him out of town!

-Bye boy's and girls!!!!
-Bye Kinko! See you at the turn of the century!
-Kinko really love you boys and girls!!
Really, really....

i get irrationally angry whenever i'm reminded that kinko's is now called fedex office. kinko's was a great standalone brand and now it's subsumed under just another huge corporate umbrella. (this is really more of a david v. goliath thing than a crappy-name thing.)

OTM! I was working at a Kinko's when this all changed...the founder Paul Orfelea is apparently not allowed into Kinko's FedEx Office buildings bcz he just loses his shit when he sees how they've changed things. Which is pretty insane! But not only did they change the great, iconic name with perfect brand recognition, they got rid of a lot of employee benefits & profit sharing. ;_;

founder of Kinko's in the 1960s that is