What’s in a name? Bands, beer and Batman are not immune from cancel culture

The Daily Telegraph, Thursday:

It has been the Captain Cook Hotel for more than 100 years, but now the new owners of a landmark Paddington pub have cancelled Australia’s most famous explorer.

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In what’s been described as a “ridiculous nod to the madness” of cancel culture, the historic hotel — built in 1914 — has rebranded itself as the “The Captain, Paddington” and wiped out all mentions of Captain James Cook. That’s despite a heritage-listed sculptural bust of the celebrated navigator sitting proudly atop the prominent building, located just a stone’s throw from the SCG.

Owner Robby Moroney explains:

… the move is not an attempt to politically distance themselves from Cook but a “rebranding’’ exercise to create … a new name that “sounds cooler” … “we’ve decided to give the place a fresh face”.

Rowan Dean, 2GB radio, Thursday:

This infuriates me! They may as well just go the whole hog and rename it the Karl Marx hotel!

Not beer! The Sydney Morning Herald, June 16:

A chain of bottleshops … will no longer stock Margaret River brewery Colonial Brewing Co’s beers after complaints about the brand name.

No free kick for football teams. Fox Sports, Wednesday:

The Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos … announced they were ending use of the team name amid criticism that the moniker is racist, following in the footsteps of US NFL team the Washington Redskins.

Federal politics is totes woke. The Guardian, June 20, 2018:

The Melbourne electorate of Batman has been renamed after an Indigenous activist, following a public campaign to rid it of its ties to a man accused of involvement in the massacre of Aboriginal people. Batman will now be called Cooper, after Yorta Yorta activist and leader William Cooper, the Australian Electoral Commission said.

The Dixie Chicks are now the Chicks. New York Times, June 25:

(The) country trio … has changed its name, apparently in tacit acknowledgment of criticism over its use of the word “Dixie”, a nostalgic nickname for the Civil War-era South.

A rebrand is not always successful. The Guardian, July 10:

US country group Lady A — known until recently as Lady Antebellum, before changing their name to shed its slavery-era connotations — is suing the blues and gospel artist Lady A over use of the name.

Who? BBC, Wednesday:

British dance music DJ Joey Negro is to drop his “unacceptable” stage name and instead go by his real name, Dave Lee. The move comes a day after fellow DJ The Black Madonna stopped using her own moniker, noting that it had caused “controversy, confusion, (and) pain”.

What’s next — Aussies’ favourite cheese? Saputo Dairy statement, June 17:

Our COON Cheese brand name recognises the work of Edward William Coon, who patented a unique ripening process that was used to manufacture the original COON cheese.

Comedian Josh Thomas, Twitter, June 14:

It’s amazing the respect people have for the name of a man who invented a processing technique of cheese — who died in 1934. And the disrespect they have for Black people.