The Company Formerly Known As

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It’s been that kind of a year for Corporate America — the kind when CEOs take the Fifth, when P.R. people seriously consider switching careers, when the only thing that will scrub a company’s name clean is … a new name.

Philip Morris made headlines last spring by rechristening itself Altria — a name that, according to the company, is meant to echo not “altruism,” but the Latin altus, or “high.” Andersen Consulting renamed itself Accenture a while back, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ consulting arm will soon do business as Monday (really: www.monday.com), and Enron is looking for a new name.

Such makeovers have a long history, though they do seem to be increasing in popularity: One consulting firm estimates that of the 3,000-plus corporate name changes last year, an unusually high number appear to be motivated not by technicalities such as mergers and acquisitions, but by image concerns. From the archives, here are a few other inspired choices.

THEN NOW WHAT
ChemLawn/Chemgreen TruGreen LandCare Nation’s largest landscaping company
Tricon Global Restaurants Yum! Brands Owns Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut
Binladin Telecommunications Group Baud Telecom equipment maker owned by Osama bin Laden’s Saudi relatives
Agricultural Insecticide and Fungicide Association CropLife America Lobbying and trade association representing the nation’s 78 pesticide manufacturers
Benton Oil and Gas Company Harvest Natural Resources Drills for oil and gas in Russia and Venezuela
Nuclear Engineering US Ecology Disposes of toxic and radioactive waste
Monsanto Specialty Chemicals Solutia A spin-off whose holdings include a string of former Monsanto chemical plants
HomeShark iOwn Online mortgage and real estate listings provider

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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