Note to Nestle: per Seth + Amy - "REALLY!?!?"

After 80 years as Butterfinger (remember Bart admonishing all those tempted not to lay a finger on his Butterfinger?) - the marketing and brand management gurus at Nestle have decided to change the name to "The Finger." So unless this is an elaborate April Fool's Day gesture, I say...

Really?!?!

Apparently this was studied for 2 years and consumers found the old name represented "undesirable traits." It's the name of a freakin' candy bar. Now after 80 years and 2 years of corporate fiddling (analysis paralysis), the name makes me think of unpleasant traffic gestures... I am sure there's a tongue in cheek nod to that in some smug marketers mind [or 04/01 joke]. It sounds - to me - somewhat uncivilized.

Why not embrace Butterfinger's clumsy connotation and have commercials featuring surprise celebs catching and tearing into a fumbled bar? How - now after 80 years - does the name imply that it's candy for only clumsy people [this according to Nestle research]???

Really?!?!

Just like spelling quick with a "K" and a "W" it just seems like one more dumbing down of an American icon.

What's next?
-Milky Way - becomes "WAY!" I can hear it now... "No way!??! WAY!"
-Charleston Chew is - The CHEW
-M+Ms become M's
-Since few young consumers really know about Baby Ruth - it's now just Baby..."Baby got nougat."
-Similarly Oh Henry becomes ChocoRod. What? It's still a baseball reference - right?! A. Rod?

Just not buyin' it. As we shorten every product name and spelling and smart-ass up the identities of iconic brands we lose a little bit of American consumer history and we inch ever further away from being the civilized bunch we think we are. God forbid someone have to crack open a dictionary or look at a map.

I, for one, won't be begging for anyone to give me "The Finger."






[If it isn't a joke, it, sadly, comes as little surprise...]