There’s a fallacious, often told story about how Chevrolet had to change the name of its “Nova” car in Latin America because it was too close to “doesn’t go” in Spanish. Then there’s the true story about the San Diego-based Isis Pharmaceuticals changing its name to Ionis Pharmaceutical after months of CEO and founder Stanley Crooke, resisting colleagues, advisors and strangers urging him to scrap the name because it was too close to the beheading-loving terrorist organization. Crooke noted that the old name might be a “distraction” to investors (even a company that produces cold cuts wouldn’t want that name these days).
Now, India’s Tata Motors has decided that it might not be a great idea that the name of one of its hottest is the “Zica” car. Zika is the spreading virus that causes brain damage in infants born to mothers who contracted Zika virus during their pregnancy and produces infants with smaller-than-usual heads. Tata’s website still shows a photo of a soccer player in front of an orange version of the snazzy car with this text:
It’s #Fantastico!
The Tata Zica is a car like no other. Stunning in design. Exhilarating in performance. Fascinating in sound and connectivity. It’s a hatchback that will lead the future.
Come experience the new Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors.
So the company will now change the name:
On Tuesday, Tata sought to defuse the unfortunate association with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, saying it would rename its car, just as it was to be unveiled this week at an automobile show outside New Delhi.
Tata, based in Mumbai, said in a statement, “Empathizing with the hardships being caused by the recent ‘Zika’ virus outbreak across many countries, Tata Motors, as a socially responsible company, has decided to rebrand the car.”
The lead-up to the car’s unveiling has coincided with news coverage of the growing Zika crisis across South and Central America. Tata appeared to place big hopes on the Zica, even enlisting one of the world’s biggest soccer stars, Lionel Messi, as a pitchman. The automaker said a new name would be announced in a few weeks.
Actually, an advertising agency could have taken advantage of the name’s notoriety in its car promo:“Your temperature will rise once you’re exposed to the Zica!”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.