# New Vegemite named
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 29, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014 "2009-09-29T18:13:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/1 "2009-09-29T18:13:54Z")
Earlier this year, a new Vegemite product was trialed. I think it’s a combination of cream cheese and Vegemite, which is actually a very nice way of enjoying everyone’s favourite yeast extract spread. Kraft Foods, who owns Vegemite, held a competition to name this new product, attracting 40,000 entries. The winner was just announced. It is:
iSnack2.0
I am not joking. How bad were the other 39,999 suggestions, that they chose this one? Twitter and Facebook commentary has been overwhelmingly negative. Some claim it was deliberately chosen to cause controversy.
Anyway, let’s hope they rename it. Or, heck, get rid of it. Those that want cream cheesy Vegemite can easily make it.
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### Author:  [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/2 "2009-09-29T18:23:11Z")
I too think it’s a strange name, and the internet has been alive with comments about how bad the name is. I have literally seen comments about how bad it is _all over the place_.
Then **Blunty** explained to me [why this is a good thing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OioZP6Pg5U).
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### Author:  [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/3 "2009-09-30T01:40:25Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#):
>
> I too think it’s a strange name, and the internet has been alive with comments about how bad the name is. I have literally seen comments about how bad it is _all over the place_.
>
> Then **Blunty** explained to me [why this is a good thing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OioZP6Pg5U).
The thing is: he’s wrong. Unless I am.
Having not read a lot of the comments, I’m just guessing here, but I’d assume that people largely aren’t saying it’s a bad name because it won’t sell Vegemite. They’re saying it’s a stupid name because it’s a _stupid_, outdatedly-cliched name. It’s a name so stupid I’d feel like a bit of a chump putting it in a shopping cart. It’s a product I can only assume was made to increase traffic at self-checkout lanes because nobody wants to be seen buying iSnack 2.0.
It may be perfectly functional marketing (and, really, I’d assume it’s intended as a temporary name they’ll change once the buzz dies down), but it’s the sort of borderline-insulting mass-marketing that has really started to rub a lot of folks the wrong way, myself included.
I can guarantee that if GM relaunched the Chevy Astro as the brand new 2010 Chevy Pederastro, they’d get some serious attention and viral buzz as well. That’s not necessarily as good thing.
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### Author:  [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/4 "2009-09-30T01:44:00Z")
I predict it will do at least as well as the New Coke (or whatever it was called).
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### Author:  [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/5 "2009-09-30T02:06:03Z")
Dear Kraft,
1996 called and asked for its meme back.
…needless to say, count me among those who would be too deeply ashamed to be seen consuming something named iSnack2.0 to buy it, regardless of how tasty it might be.
Only marginally worse would have been to call it Can Haz Yeest Spred Plz? or All Your Sandwich Fillings Are Belong To Us.
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/6 "2009-09-30T02:07:36Z")
Why anyone would want to eat Vegemite anyhow is beyond me. Worst thing I ever had in my mouth, except for the time I had a bad snail.
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### Author:  [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/7 "2009-09-30T02:26:08Z")
> [@Mahna\_Mahna](#):
>
> Only marginally worse would have been to call it Can Haz Yeest Spred Plz? or All Your Sandwich Fillings Are Belong To Us.
I’d buy the former.
LOLfoods need to exist.
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### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/8 "2009-09-30T02:32:45Z")
It’s so laughably outdated, that’s the worst thing about the name! But this might be sour grapes on my behalf, as I submitted about 50 names (hey, it was late, I was bored…). Still, it sounds like it comes from the Parwill school of naming.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/9 "2009-09-30T02:39:27Z")
> [@Cazzle](#):
>
> It’s so laughably outdated, that’s the worst thing about the name! But this might be sour grapes on my behalf, as I submitted about 50 names (hey, it was late, I was bored…). Still, it sounds like it comes from the Parwill school of naming.
So give us a “taste” Cazzle. What were some of the names you submitted?
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### Author:  [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/10 "2009-09-30T02:43:15Z")
It’s a joke, of course.
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### Author:  [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/11 "2009-09-30T02:48:45Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#):
>
> I too think it’s a strange name, and the internet has been alive with comments about how bad the name is. I have literally seen comments about how bad it is _all over the place_.
>
> Then **Blunty** explained to me [why this is a good thing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OioZP6Pg5U).
I understand what he is saying, and I think that is true in many cases. I won’t say that he is definitely wrong in this case, since long term public perception is way beyond my ability to accurately predict. But I think there is a chance that he is wrong.
I think the name is just too stupid and outdated to translate into actual sustainable increased sales. There is a big disconnect between the entertainment associated with talking about the really bad name and being interested in actually trying the product. Sure, I know about Bacon Mayonnaise because Jon Stewart uses it as a running gag, but that doesn’t make me any closer to wanting to try it. Likewise, people thought it was fun to go around saying “I have had it with these m\*\*_king snakes on this m_king plane!”, but that never really translated into a huge desire to actually go see the movie.
It is possible for hype and internet memes to exist completely distinct from any desire to use the product. There is a good chance that will happen here too.
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### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/12 "2009-09-30T07:53:55Z")
I think “crap-on-a-cracker” would have been a far better name.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/13 "2009-09-30T08:42:31Z")
Someone on a local TV show suggested “Fromage Noir” which I really liked.
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/14 "2009-09-30T08:56:58Z")
And the name has been [dropped](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/30/2701070.htm).
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/15 "2009-09-30T09:17:22Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#):
>
> Why anyone would want to eat Vegemite anyhow is beyond me. Worst thing I ever had in my mouth, except for the time I had a bad snail.
As I snack on four Vita Weet spread with Vegemite. (The real stuff).
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### Author:  [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-vegemite-named/512014/16 "2009-09-30T09:41:09Z")
> [@Cicero](#):
>
> As I snack on four Vita Weet spread with Vegemite. (The real stuff).
Bet the Vita Weat’s aren’t fair dinkum. They went to the pack when Arnotts took them over.