Frances Haugen, a former employee of Facebook, leaked to the Wall Street Journal internal documents in September that contained some very disturbing information.
Soon after, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, announced that it would change its name to Meta. It was a classic move. The company makes a mistake. Public support for the company is lost. Company invents a new name and branding.
This artist, formerly known as Facebook, is the latest in a long line of companies that have changed their names after a scandal. These are just a few examples of companies that have paved the way.
British Petroleum to BP
As part of the cleanup efforts, controlled oil burning was carried out in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
BP is the most environmentally-conscious oil and gas company. The oil and gas giant changed its name to British Petroleum in 2000. It also introduced a new logo with a sunburst logo and the slogan "beyond petrol." All this was done to make BP more eco-friendly.
Then there was the Texas oil refinery explosion in 2005 that killed dozens, the Alaska oil spillage in Prudhoe Bay, which emitted 200,000 gallons of oil into the Prudhoe Bay, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spillage in 2010, which was the worst oil spillage in history. The company's name was not changed to make it more eco-friendly.
Blackwater to Xe and Academi
Blackwater's reputation deteriorated so much that it was forced to change its name several times. Blackwater's 2006 contractor was "drunk and killed" by one of the Iraqi vice-president's bodyguards. The families of Blackwater contractors killed in Fallujah sued the company for negligence. Blackwater contractors also opened fire on Baghdad in 2007, killing 17 civilians.
The shooting resulted in four Blackwater contractors being convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. The U.S. State Department did not renew the contract with the company. Erik Prince, brother of Betsy DeVos, was convicted and sentenced to prison. The company was renamed Xe. A group of private investors purchased Xe in 2011. The company's name was changed to Academi again in 2011. It's now owned by Constellis Holdings, an umbrella company
Philip Morris to Altria
If a product is found to be addictive or harmful by the Supreme Court, it can make it difficult for a business to be built around its cool factor. People had realized that smoking cigarettes was not healthy by 2003. Philip Morris, the largest tobacco company in the world, decided to improve its public image. It also wanted to be able to refer to its other products as it owned Kraft Foods and SABMiller at the time. It changed its name from Altria to Altria.
It worked. It worked, sort of. The U.S. has seen a decline in cigarettes sales since 2001. This probably has not been good for morale. Altria, however, didn't disappear like a chronic smoker's chest. It instead diversified its holdings by buying up smokeless tobacco, the wine company UST Inc. and investing in Cronos Group, a cannabis company, and Juul Labs, an e-cigarette brand. Vaping may not be very healthy for you, but it is not Philip Morris' fault. Altria's first rodeo.
Lance Armstrong Foundation to Livestrong Foundation
Lance Armstrong openly admits to using doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Credit: Getty Images
It was a Cinderella Story. Man beats late stage cancer and wins the Tour de France seven consecutive times. He also dates Sheryl Crow.
Then Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, and it all came crashing down.
Armstrong's inspiring story was the inspiration for his foundation. This, and the yellow silicone bracelets everyone was obsessed with for quite some time. The foundation decided to uncouple Armstrong after it was revealed that he had cheated in 2012. Armstrong was removed as chairman and the foundation changed its name from the Livestrong Foundation.
The foundation has never fully recovered. Since 2012, revenue has fallen significantly. The Livestrong Foundation is hoping to rebuild with a new brand and a mission to fund cancer research in 2020.
McAfee to Intel Security for McAfee
John McAfee, an eccentric entrepreneur, founded the company that is now known for its anti-virus software in 1987. The eccentric entrepreneur quit the company in the middle of the 1990s. It is amazing what happened. After he lost his fortune, he opened a yoga retreat in Colorado. He then moved to Belize, where he built a private military compound. Then he fled Belize as a suspect in a Belize murder investigation.
McAfee claimed that he had not filed a tax return for eight years, and that "taxation was illegal" in 2019. He was arrested for not paying taxes on the millions of dollars he earned from speaking engagements, cryptocurrency promotion, and other income streams. McAfee, who was in Spain awaiting extradition to America, was found hanged in a cell by McAfee.
These antics could have caused irreparable damage to a brand's name. McAfee posted a bizarre and NSFW video in 2013 shaming the company for its changes since he was running it. McAfee Associates was owned by Intel in 2014.
In 2016, Intel spun off Intel Security Group and McAfee was renamed. Steve Grogan, the CTO, explained that "the McAfee name has tremendous value" in a 2017 interview with ITBusiness.ca. Despite John McAfee trying to ruin the company's reputation and branding, McAfee still has a strong following with consumers.
This could mean that Meta will likely be rebranded to Facebook in the near future.
