A Belgian chocolate maker has been forced to change its name after it left a bad taste in the mouth of customers.
‘ISIS’ has announced it will be rebranding itself as ‘Libeert’ after a slump in sales brought on by its name association with the Islamist terror group.
The company, who were founded as ‘Italo Suisse’ in 1923, changed their name to ISIS in late 2013 because the chocolatier was no longer associated with either country.
But the company has now had to change its name again for a name association that is unquestionably much worse, with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) causing sales to plummet.
‘When we saw that the orders, which were planned to get in at the beginning September for this Christmas, they didn’t come in from the States or the UK, and we said:
“What’s going on here?”‘ director Ignance Libeert told SBS News.
‘And they said yes, we have orders but the name ISIS is actually disturbing because our consumers are very upset with that name.’
Isis has dominated international headlines since its rapid growth in the Middle East, with its understanding of social media and horrifying videos of beheadings guaranteeing widespread exposure.
The company are not the first organisation to have rebranded themselves because of the terror group.
The creators of a television show which features a fictional spy agency called Isis announced last month all uses of the word had been dropped.
by Harry Readhead
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