September/October 2002 Issue

The Company Formerly Known As

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It’s been that kind of a year for Corporate America — the kind when CEOs take the Fifth, when P.R. people seriously consider switching careers, when the only thing that will scrub a company’s name clean is … a new name.

Philip Morris made headlines last spring by rechristening itself Altria — a name that, according to the company, is meant to echo not “altruism,” but the Latin altus, or “high.” Andersen Consulting renamed itself Accenture a while back, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ consulting arm will soon do business as Monday (really: www.monday.com), and Enron is looking for a new name.

Such makeovers have a long history, though they do seem to be increasing in popularity: One consulting firm estimates that of the 3,000-plus corporate name changes last year, an unusually high number appear to be motivated not by technicalities such as mergers and acquisitions, but by image concerns. From the archives, here are a few other inspired choices.

THEN NOW WHAT
ChemLawn/Chemgreen TruGreen LandCare Nation’s largest landscaping company
Tricon Global Restaurants Yum! Brands Owns Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut
Binladin Telecommunications Group Baud Telecom equipment maker owned by Osama bin Laden’s Saudi relatives
Agricultural Insecticide and Fungicide Association CropLife America Lobbying and trade association representing the nation’s 78 pesticide manufacturers
Benton Oil and Gas Company Harvest Natural Resources Drills for oil and gas in Russia and Venezuela
Nuclear Engineering US Ecology Disposes of toxic and radioactive waste
Monsanto Specialty Chemicals Solutia A spin-off whose holdings include a string of former Monsanto chemical plants
HomeShark iOwn Online mortgage and real estate listings provider

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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