Fritinancy

The C-Word

Remember back in 2001 when President George W. Bush told Americans that “this crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while”? That C-word, crusade, alarmed quite a few of us (Jews, Muslims, people with an appreciation of history), and Bush ended up taking some heat for the comment, especially in the European press. Historically, a crusade was a specifically Christian war; the word comes from a Latin root that means “to mark with a cross.” The Crusades were a stupendously bloody three-century-long series of religious campaigns to bring the Holy Land under Christian control.

All of which is background to this news flash: Campus Crusade for Christ announced this week that it’s ditching the name it’s used since its founding in 1951 in favor of a short, peppy nickname: Cru. The change will become effective in 2012. The organization owns the corresponding domain, cru.org, which currently rolls over to ccci.org.

 

Current name and logo

New name and logo

“Ministry leaders worry that the word ‘crusade’ has too many negative associations,” understated the subhed on Christianity Today’s article about the name change, posted on July 19:

“It’s become a flash word for a lot of people. It harkens [sic] back to other periods of time and has a negative connotation for lots of people across the world, especially in the Middle East,” said Steve Sellers, the CCCI vice president and U.S. national director who is leading the name change project. “In the ’50s, crusade was the evangelistic term in the United States. Over time, different words take on different meanings to different groups.”

Can’t argue with that last point.

Shacking Up

Engadget reports that RadioShack is about to launch a "pretty noticeable rebranding" that includes changing the name of the retail operation to The Shack. According to a RadioShack website, the change will kick off with "The Shack Summer Netogether," which will "connect San Francisco and New York  via larger-than-life laptops August 6th - 8th."

Engadget comments on the name change:

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense -- radios aren't exactly considered cutting edge these days, and from the sounds of things, the store is about to launch a full assault on the mobile space, bringing T-Mobile into the fold this month, and attempting to cover the gamut on cellphone reselling. Still, we're not sure "The Shack" is the right direction... unless they wanted us to immediately picture a remote location where very, very bad things happen.

RadioShack opened its first store (in Boston) in 1921; according to the corporate history, the name was borrowed from the term used for the small wooden structure that housed a ship's radio equipment.

RadioShack's name-ectomy follows a similar move by Pizza Hut, which in June announced its new sub-brand The Hut.

The Shack, The Hut ... shorter names for a downsized economy? Let's speculate on what the next tinyfication will be:

• Pottery Barn shrinks to The Barn.
• IHOP, formerly the International House of Pancakes, cuts back to The House.
• Coldwater Creek slims down to The Creek.
• Hidden Valley Ranch reduces to The Ranch.
• Holiday Inn downsizes to The Inn. (Who can afford a holiday these days?)
• Log Cabin ("authentic maple-tasting syrup"—don't think too hard about that) dwindles to The Cabin.

UPDATE: From Rob Frankel on Twitter: "Next Jack in the Box will be The Box. Oy."

UPDATE #2: And how could I have forgotten Banana Republic, due for an alteration to The Republic?

UPDATE #3: More on the "Shack" campaign, including photos from the Netogether, at the Brand New Blog. The campaign was created by Bay Area agency Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners, which is perhaps best known for its work with MINI.

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(Hat tip: The Name Inspector on Twitter. Image: Terminal screen at a Radio Shack retail store, via Engadget.)