# Companies you've frequently heard of, yet you have little idea of what they do **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313 "2011-09-23T09:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/41 "2011-09-25T00:42:27Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > Accenture. > > I once lived near an Accenture building and I never had a clear idea of what they actually do. Used to be Andersen Consulting, split off from Arthur Andersen (the latter being one of the Big Five\* accounting & consulting firms). Of course, you probably know that much, but I felt compelled to provide details. - Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Ernst & Young are now the Big Four, after Andersen was-convicted-but-then-found-not-guilty of malpractice and a bunch of other accounting no-nos. Alas, the “not guilty” part (by the SCOTUS) was too late and Andersen was mostly broken up, even though the company still technically exists. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/42 "2011-09-25T02:05:15Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Haliburton does some sort of construction right? But they’re not the same as the crew of guys who built my deck last summer, I assume… Not unless your deck cost $4.3 million. I hear and see the word Sodexho (sp?) plastered hither and yon, but never really in any sort of context that helped me understand what they do. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/43 "2011-09-25T02:43:08Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > Accenture. > > I once lived near an Accenture building and I never had a clear idea of what they actually do. Terra1041, meet msmith537. > [@msmith537](#): > > Management consulting firms (of which I have worked at several, including PwC), are basically people who get paid a lot of money to tell management at large companies about ideas they heard from somewhere else. it combines aspects of getting paid very well, not having to actually be responsible for anything and actually looking like you know what you are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/44 "2011-09-25T02:47:50Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I hear and see the word Sodexho (sp?) plastered hither and yon, but never really in any sort of context that helped me understand what they do. They just run food services for places like colleges or hospitals or the military. If you go to a large hospital and they have a Jazzman’s ‘coffee shop’ and a salad bar and a hamburger station and a Pandinis brand pizza station, all are owned and operated by Sodexo. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/45 "2011-09-25T02:54:10Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > **Afflelou** is advertised at the French Open tennis tourney, and I find myself muttering the name over and over because it’s quite catchy, but I have no idea what they do. Eyewear. My mom used to swear by their stylishly inexpensive readers, but they’re no longer sold over here. > [@](#): > > I think\*\* Aldi\*\* is a supermarket, but it’s not like their name gives you any indication. Yep. Super-economy store: bulk packaging, generic brands, zero advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/46 "2011-09-25T03:09:21Z")
Weird timing on this thread. I was at the Dodger game the other night with my fiancee, and they were showing on the big screen the names of people and businesses who had been long-time season ticket holders. Among the businesses who have had season tickets for 45 years or more was the well-known **Ingersoll Rand** , whose name I’ve been conscious of for as long as I can remember. It’s just that I have no idea what they do. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/47 "2011-09-25T08:33:21Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Weird timing on this thread. I was at the Dodger game the other night with my fiancee, and they were showing on the big screen the names of people and businesses who had been long-time season ticket holders. Among the businesses who have had season tickets for 45 years or more was the well-known **Ingersoll Rand** , whose name I’ve been conscious of for as long as I can remember. > > It’s just that I have no idea what they do. At one point in time they made seriously shitty compressors. Really, the one in my shop spent almost as much time down as functioning. I ended up modding the lubrication system on it and it got much more dependable after that. They had an odd sort of life for a while, there was Ingersoll, and Rand. They started out in 1900ish making drills of all things as Ingersoll, merged with Rand. Somewhere along the way they bought Trane, some lock company [schlage?] Very corporate hot potato. To be honest, I really haven’t followed the company much, I think we sold off the stock we had in the family trust in the late 90s, but I would have to actually check the files. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/48 "2011-09-25T10:01:49Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > BASF, that is. SAP, probably not so much. …huh. I didn’t know they did anything except for tape until this thread. [Link to iconic Kiwi BASF ad.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6S8DZHpG4) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/49 "2011-09-25T17:43:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Somewhere along the way they bought Trane, some lock company Trane manufacture large industrial HVAC, and other plant, they also make screw compressors of the kind you might find in cars - its a form of supercharger unit. They also provide back up maintenance, and since some of their machines run on 3000 volts, they also do the switchgear and protection. They are also into building environmental controls, energy management. Their systems are large enough that when big building projects are designed, they have to be included in the original tender process so that the structure can be designed to contain them - trust me, they are pretty big. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/50 "2011-09-25T18:24:37Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Price fixing or something. They were the agro company featured in the film The Informant. Yup, [price-fixing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine_price-fixing_conspiracy#ADM.27s_role) on lysine (an animal-feed additive) and citric acid in the 1990s. They were a client of mine a few years ago; they’d really like to get people to think of them for something other than that incident, but as their products and brand name are generally not known to the public, that (if anything) is what sticks in people’s minds. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/51 "2011-09-25T18:27:45Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …huh. I didn’t know they did anything except for tape until this thread. > > [Link to iconic Kiwi BASF ad.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6S8DZHpG4) They made computer floppy disks back in the 1980s, as well (that’s what I first knew them for). Consumer products, like the cassette tapes and disks, have always been a tiny part of their business, but it’s what many consumers recognize when they hear the brand name. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/52 "2011-09-25T18:49:21Z")
Any company with the word “logistics” in its name. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/53 "2011-09-25T19:36:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yup, [price-fixing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine_price-fixing_conspiracy#ADM.27s_role) on **lysine** (an animal-feed additive) and citric acid in the 1990s. They were a client of mine a few years ago; they’d really like to get people to think of them for something other than that incident, but as their products and brand name are generally not known to the public, that (if anything) is what sticks in people’s minds. That deal they made with John Hammond and InGen. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/54 "2012-10-18T04:27:20Z")
Sorry, just had to say that until I ran across [this article today](http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Kinder-Morgan-Energy-Partners-profit-soars-3957796.php), anyone mentioning Kinder Morgan to me would have been greeted with the response, "Oh, yeah, like, they make the chocolate eggs, right? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/55 "2012-10-18T17:33:28Z")
Acxiom is apparently a marketing company that collects information on people and sells it. Okay… ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/56 "2012-10-18T21:54:05Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Acxiom is apparently a marketing company that collects information on people and sells it. Okay… Now they know that you know about them and will try to sell that to someone!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/57 "2012-10-18T22:10:07Z")
The only company hiring in this city is Sutherland Global. DAMNED if I know what they do. It’s so vague. It’s not like “I sell tires” or “I bake bread” or “I work in a Thruway toll booth”. “I work for Sutherland Global”. Swell, but what do they DO? What do YOU do? “Tech stuff.” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/58 "2012-10-18T22:13:24Z")
A few months ago my nephew had a just-out-of-college job interview with Johnson Controls and asked me if I’d ever heard of them - all he knew was they were in Wisconsin and he wasn’t sure if they were big enough for him to relocate there. I had not heard of them, so I looked them up: they make car interiors and car batteries, have 160,000 employees all over the world, and are worth about **30 BILLION** dollars\ ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/59 "2012-10-18T22:15:18Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Despite being the largest engineering company in the US, most people probably have little idea what Bechtel does. > > I mean, look at their [logo](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Bechtel_logo.png). That has to be one of the most generic, comic book style, evil multi-corp looking logos I’ve ever seen. Even though this post is quite old, it appears that it’s still their logo. It is laughably evil looking. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313/60 "2012-10-18T22:19:06Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > - Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Ernst & Young are now the Big Four, after Andersen was-convicted-but-then-found-not-guilty of malpractice and a bunch of other accounting no-nos. Alas, the “not guilty” part (by the SCOTUS) was too late and Andersen was mostly broken up, even though the company still technically exists. I love how the big accounting firms consolidated, and mashed their names together. At one point they were Arthur Young, Ernst & Whinney, Price Waterhouse, Coopers & Lybrand, Peat Marwick (not sure where the K & G came from). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-frequently-heard-of-yet-you-have-little-idea-of-what-they-do/597313.md?page=4)