Facebook would be following in a long and not-so-proud tradition of toxic companies.
Facebook has plans to change its name as soon as next week, according to a new report from the Verge, and it’s no surprise why. The social media giant’s brand has become toxic after years of scandals, from the Cambridge Analytica data debacle to helping promote violence in Myanmar. But Facebook is far from the first company to try a bold new rebrand after its name became associated with harming society in some fundamental way. There’s a long tradition in the U.S. of companies changing their names, only to keep doing the same old horrific shit they were always doing. Today, we’re taking a look at a few of the companies that changed their names because they became too controversial, like agribusiness giant Monsanto and tobacco company Philip Morris, or because they were trying desperately to rebrand as something more healthy, like Dunkin’ Donuts. Unlike Facebook, at least Dunkin’ Donuts never fueled genocide in Myanmar. They just make donuts, coffee, and other treats, as far as we’re aware. Philip Morris became the largest tobacco company of the 20th century with brands like Marlboro and Virginia Slims. But when tobacco’s negative health effects became irrefutable in the 1990s, the company knew it had a problem. Rather than stop making a product that kills one-third of its users, Philip Morris decided to change its name to Altria Group in 2003. Much like Facebook’s plans, the Philip Morris name didn’t completely die. Altria Group simply became the umbrella company housing all of the corporation’s other interests, like Kraft Foods. A lot has changed since 2003, when the Altria name was first started. The company sold Kraft, then spun off its overseas division, Philip Morris International, leaving just Philip Morris USA under the Altria name. If you heard the name Monsanto in popular media during the early 2010s, it was probably for something horrendous. Monsanto was associated with the worst of gigantic agribusiness, from the creation of Agent Orange used against civilians by the U.S. military in the 1960s during the Vietnam War to monopolistic control of the country’s seed market.
