History Repeats

When I heard that the name for the new variant of Vegemite was “iSnack 2.0”, it took me a little while to understand that it wasn’t a joke. The new variant is basically 30% Vegemite and 70% cream cheese, but apparently it deserved a revolutionary new name.

Although I am horrified at the thought of a breakfast spread that includes not only punctuation but numbers in its name, there seems to be historical precedent for this sort of crazy naming. Here’s what Wikipedia says..

• Just like the new variant was named following a national naming competition, the original was named following a similar competition back in 1922.
• Just like the new name is extremely derivate of popular products on the market, the original name was derived from the popular spread Marmite that was shipped to Australia from 1919.

Although, Vegemite wasn’t always called Vegemite. From 1928 to 1935 it was sold as Parwill, in order to work with a marketing slogan of “Marmite but Parwill” (get it?). Obviously, the product name was changed back when the marketing didn’t work. So, if history continues to repeat, perhaps iSnack 2.0 will be given a less ridiculous name once the marketing people wise up. We can only hope.

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