# HEY!!!! How come all the................ **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2001, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-come-all-the/56714 "2001-03-04T10:58:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-come-all-the/56714/1 "2001-03-04T10:58:21Z")
…Super America gas stations turned into Speed Way gas stations?? At least here in Milwaukee they did. I know Stupid America & Speed Way were owned by the same company all along these past few years, but why the sudden change in what’s on the name/signs all of a sudden? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-come-all-the/56714/2 "2001-03-04T11:33:19Z")
In a word: branding. > [@](#): > > Scott Bedbury, Starbucks’ vice president of marketing, openly recognized that “consumers don’t truly believe there’s a huge difference between products,” which is why brands must “establish emotional ties” with their customers… My guess is that this chain of gas stations is consolidating its branding, so that wherever customers go there will be a familiar sign. As well as being cheaper to run one brand (stationery, signwriting and so on) it reinforces the image that the company’s marketers are trying to project. Hence, I suppose, the rebranding of things like Oil of Ulay and Jif around the world. > [@](#): > > …a new strain in marketing theory that holds that even the lowliest natural resources, barely processed, can develop brand identities, thus giving way to hefty premium-price markups. (quotes from _No Logo_ by Naomi Klein)