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From Starbucks to Sony, famous brands that changed their names

The name game
Google, formerly BackRub
Subway, formerly Pete’s Super Submarines
Blackberry, formerly Research in Motion
Pepsi-Cola, formerly Brad’s Drink
Yahoo, formerly Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web
Nintendo, formerly Marufuku Company and Nintendo Playing Card Company
Nissan, formerly Datsun
Panasonic, formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Corporation
Best Buy, formerly Sound of Music
Nike, formerly Blue Ribbon Sports
AOL, formerly Quantum Computer Services
Starbucks, formerly Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice and II Giornale Coffee Company
Sony, formerly Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo
eBay, formerly AuctionWeb
Hertz Rent-A-Car, formerly Drive-Ur-Self
PayPal, formerly Cofinity
Mozilla Firefox, formerly Mozilla Firebird
Sharp, formerly Hayakawa Brothers Shokai
FedEx, formerly Federal Express
MasterCard, formerly Master Charge
Apple Inc, formerly Apple Computers
WW, formerly WeightWatchers
The Campbell's Company, formerly Campbell Soup Company
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The name game

Coming up with the right name can be key to whether a business or product succeeds or fails. But sometimes, a change in direction is needed.

Read on to discover the original names of some famous brands and businesses and find out why they made the switch. How many did you know?

All dollar amounts in US dollars

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lovemoney staff

17 September 2024

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