What's in a name?

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Posted at 12:02PM, 05 May 2009 by Carol Wilson - Food writer

Would you buy a food that tasted great but had an unappealing name? If the name is changed to something more attractive, will it make the food taste better or increase sales?

A leading supermarket seems to think so, as it's decided to rename pollock with its French name of colin (pronounced coll-an) in an attempt to make this sustainable fish more pleasing to British shoppers. Personally I have no problem with the name pollock (also spelt pollack) or its previous names of coley or saithe.

Prior to the renaming of pollock, another supermarket obtained permission from Trading Standards to rename another sustainable fish. The flatfish witch is now called 'Torbay sole' after one of the areas where it is caught, because its original name was believed to be off-putting to customers. Likewise in Cornwall, the humble tinned pilchard has been renamed the Cornish sardine by the local industry in an effort to rejuvenate sales - a move which has been very successful.

Some confused consumers thought the bright orange fruit was named after the girl's name, Sharon

It's not just fish that have been re-christened. Persimmons were renamed Sharon fruit because the new name was thought to be more attractive and because they're grown in the Sharon Valley in Israel. Unfortunately this was lost on some confused consumers who thought the bright orange fruit was named after the girl's name, Sharon.

Would people still have enjoyed these foods with their original names? If the new names encourage more people to try them, then why not?

Branded sweets seem to be the most renamed food items in a move towards 'global branding' which the companies say cut costs, as the name is recognised all over the world, reducing advertising expenditure. Dime chocolate bars are now called Daim; Treets (remember 'melt in your mouth, not in your hand'?), chocolate-covered roasted peanuts encased in a hard candy shell, were renamed M&Ms and Snickers bars were originally sold under the name Marathon in the UK.

But renaming isn't always a success. Opal Fruits, those brightly coloured fruit-flavoured chewy sweets were renamed Starburst - an unpopular move which led to a UK campaign to reinstate the original name. Opal Fruits did return as a limited edition for a few weeks last year and duly flew off the shelves. Wispa became Dairy Milk Bubbly for a short time, but has now returned, due to a huge campaign by internet social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to get the much loved bar reinstated - and sales are flourishing.

Do you think we should keep familiar British names or is global branding more universally appealing?

Comments

miniminx

5 May 2009, 2:53PM
miniminx

another biggie is KFC - after the colonel decided 'kentucky fried chicken' emphasised the 'fried', which sounded too fattening and unhealthy...

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miniminx

5 May 2009, 2:54PM
miniminx

what about KFC - the colonel decided that 'kentucky friend chicken' sounded far too unhealthy in the health-conscious nineties, the golden age of diet coke.....

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shez

5 May 2009, 9:39PM
shez

Think Coco Pops failed with their name change to something else too didn't they?

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JANET

6 May 2009, 11:53AM
JANET

Why have they renamed pollack to colin? That's french for hake, pollack is lieu jaune.

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Fredwina

6 May 2009, 4:40PM
Fredwina

I think coco pops went to coco krispies or something didn't they? I prefer Pollack to Colin, when I think of Colin it makes me think of the guy with the boil from the Brittas Empire.

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Jo_Cooks

7 May 2009, 10:28AM
Jo_Cooks

interesting to hear that kentucky fried chicken changed to kfc to sound more healthy. i'd heard that it was because it wasn't necessarily chicken, so they couldn't label it as such. rat burger, anyone?!

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Nicola

7 May 2009, 10:57AM
Nicola

Yes, I had also thought the KFC name change was because there wasn't enough chicken in it or something like that. Perhaps that was just an urban myth!

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smitty

10 May 2009, 4:55PM
smitty

what about kiwi fruit which used to be called chinese gooseberry?

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poppysuze

7 August 2009, 7:12PM
poppysuze

And what about crumpets - formerly pikelets?

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SUE

20 March 2010, 3:15PM
SUE

Crumpets and pikelets aren't the same; pikelets are smaller and thinner, althought they use the same batter.

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