Tesco cuts the price of ISIS TVs
Tesco has launched major discounts on ISIS branded TVs. They are no longer available online, but in stores, electronics departments have slashed the cost of 28 inch LED TVs from £179 to £89 and 22 inch TVs from £89 to £64.
One shopper told the Express newspaper that they thought people might have been put off buying them at full price because the name ISIS is so closely associated with the terrorist group which is now known as Islamic State.
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Tesco made it clear to The Metro that this wasn't the case. It said that there were a number of different brands included in the promotion, and that the discount had nothing to do with the terrorist group.
In this instance, therefore, it seems to be a coincidence. However, there are a number of companies who have been left with tough decisions because of the rise of the terrorist group.
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Rebranding ISIS
Isis a popular brand name for all sorts of things from Anne Summers bras and beauty salons to financial companies - because it's the name of an Egyptian goddess worshipped as a mother figure and symbolising fertility, marriage and love.
However, the fact that this terrorist group shares the name has led some to rebrand. We reported in September that a wireless payment application system in the US called ISIS, which is backed by T&T, Verizon and T-Mobile announced it would be changing its name to Softcard. Chief executive Michael Abbott said in a statement: "However coincidental, we have no desire to share a name with this group and our hearts go out to those affected by this violence."
Other firms who took this route included Isis Equity Partners in London (who are yet to confirm their new name); Belgium Chocolate company rebranded as Libeert; a condominium project in West Palm Beach, which rebranded from ISIS Downtown Condos to 3 Thirty Three Downtown; and ISIS Nova Scotia, a firm which helps people settle in Nova Scotia, which said that immigrants were confused by the name and staff were too embarrassed to wear name badges.
One of the oddest rebrandings so far is in the animated spy drama, Archer. In the sixth series, set to start in January, Archer will no longer be working for a spy organisation called Isis. Instead the organisation will disappear and he'll be working for the CIA instead.
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