Drunken Bungle Whore

Just curious - we've seen several product name changes over the years in the UK:

Marathon - Snickers
Jif - Cif
Oil of Ulay - Oil of Olay
Opal Fruits - Starburst
Coco Pops - Choco Krispies (but they changed back again)

And now it looks like Abbey are grooming us for a name change to Santander in the same way HSBC did with Midland Bank.

So - are there any products or brands outside the UK that have changed their name to the UK version? Or is it always us that does the changing.....?

PeteBrant

I think a few countries change, not just us, it's all globalisation, why have different packaging/names for lots of countries when you can have one global brand.

Having said that, "Santander" is a rubbish name for a bank.

Jaybird-UK

HSBC & Santander were as a result of those companies buying the respective British banks.

Just wait, in a few years time all Asdas will be Walmarts

what would scooby do

Winscale to Sellafield internal rebrand

what would scooby do

Subaru Impreza rename to Kia Pride ?

rgv_stu

My shotgun cartridges have changed from Viri to FOB,
mind you there are some wierd names for the same things abroad. a Crunchie bar in New Zealand is 'Hokey Pokey' ffs

Suresh

Only one I can think of at this late hour: Opel Kadett became the Opel Astra

P1Fanatic

But some as you say are the result of a takeover whilst others are just rebranding in the hope of more sales (unless Ive missed something).

Marathon to Snickers is the one that everyone remembers. I for one used to like Mars and am sure it was king of chocolate bars when I was a kid but cant remember the last time I bought one. Id always pick a snickers these days.

On the subject of starburst - does anyone remember starburst joosters? They dont seem to make them any more which is a shame as they were terribly moreish

Simon

P1Fanatic

Oh what about Hewlett Packard to HP.

Simon

what would scooby do

Compaq to HP was result of a buy out/merger.

HP is just a contraction of Hewlett Packard.

PeteBrant

Plus, Hewlett Packard to HP is not exactly the most extreme name change in the history of everything, is it?

jonathan100

Not a name change but can some one please tell me why they stopped making wisper bars!! they were awsome! think they got replaced with dairy milk bubblie which is gash.

boomer

Didn't Treats (melt in your mouth and not in your hand) become Minstrels?

mb

richardg

wispa

richardg

treats were the chocolate covered peanuts weren't they? peanut m&m's are the closest replacement AFAIK. minstrels became galaxy minstrels (no peanuts though)

Drunken Bungle Whore

And is there a link between Tutti Frutti's and Skittles? Exactly the same sweet, just a different shape....

richardg

don't think so - weren't tutti frutti's more chewy than skittles? skittles have a harder shell i think

Dr Hu

Burger King is called Hungry Jacks in New Zealand......dunno why....

PeteBrant

No, Treats were round and came in Three types. Peanut, toffee and chocolate.

Toffee treats, along with Cabana bars were the finest sweet in the history of everything.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

All the Norwich Union, Commercial Union and General Accident companies worldwide are now Aviva which is a British company - although ironically still Norwich Union in the UK!

PeteBrant

Or "theiving parasitic tosspots" as they are known.

G-STAR

Wispa Gold!

How I miss them.

davegtt

Just mentioned on the Radio, Lucozade used to be called Glucozade

joey_turbo

iTrader: (26)

Interesting Pub Ammo:

When Burger King tried to set up in Oz and NZ, there was already a Burger King franchise. Only a small business apparently. The owner refused to sell the name and/or the business to BK's, thats why they had to call themselves something else.

BMWhere?

Lynx (deodorant) is called 'Axe' in the rest of Europe, but can't see it being adopted in the UK unless they want to associate the brand with chopping wood! []

THE AXE EFFECT

Shark Man

At one point Grundig used rebranded Philips products, however that was whilst Philips had shares in Grundig.

Grundig Digiboxes were rebranded to Thomson after Grundig went bump.

Bush, Alba, Goodmans and Grundig are a mix of technology sourced from various other companies such as Samsung and Philips. And products under Alba/Bush/Goodmans/Grundig are common units that are rebranded for their aimed market.

Indeed, its of no coincidence that a Philips remote control will operate some Bush TVs.

Although this more to do with company politics and finances, rebranding usually is done with the consumer in mind, sometimes if the name translates to something untowards in the country its sold in.

I mean, anyone remember "Homo" washing powder?

And they may also be changed as part of global harmonisation of a product brand. Banco Santander obviously has that goal set in their sights.

Paul3446

Quote:
"can some one please tell me why they stopped making wispa bars!!"

Probably after the George Michael joke came out!

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

Lucky Goldstar became Goldstar then LG

skoobidude

I remember a girl at school used to suck wispa bars rather than bite them.
It used to be great watching her from a distance with my mates. Me doing the **** commentating "Oh yeh baby, go deeper.." whilst watching her work the bar.
She'd have made a good girlfriend at the time

Nick

CrisPDuk

Not probably, actually


Corus is one that made me smile

Apparently this new name summed up what the 'brand' was all about, you can just imagine the meeting:

"Hey guys, we need a new name"

"What do owe do?"

"Well we're British"

"And we make steel"

"I know! How about, Corus?"

WTF


If there's one word that makes me seethe more than any it's that word 'Brand'