5 Name Changes That Did Nothing To Help These Companies

2. Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Philip Morris Companies Inc. the owner of iconic cigarette brands such as Marlboro and Chesterfield made a name change to Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) in 2003, ostensibly to bring better clarity to its corporate structure. Altria is derived from the Latin word “Altus” which means “high” and was supposed to suggest high performance. Tobacco’s bad rap grew throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s, as more link between the usage of tobacco products and cancer surfaced. The company had been planning to change its name for a long time, as the Philip Morris brand was negatively associated with tobacco. Philip Morris hoped that with the name change to Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO), its other subsidiaries (at the time) such as Kraft Foods Group would be insulated from being associated with tobacco, as it would obscure the other non-controversial parts of the business from the Philip Morris name. This name change did not succeed however, as the PR campaign to promote the new name failed to hide the business model of the Philip Morris Group, which directly contributed to a rise in fatal diseases amongst its customers.

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