For anyone who has travelled, you’ve likely stumbled upon products that look eerily similar to the ones you know from back home. That’s because they’re actually the same thing, but marketing departments, for various reasons, rebrand for an international audience. Here are just a few examples:
Burger King = Hungry Jack’s
The Australian franchise of Burger King needed a new name down under due to it already being trademarked by a takeaway food shop in Adelaide. The inspiration behind it came from Australian franchisee Jack Cowin.
TK Maxx = TJ Maxx
Your favourite designer bargain store is actually American in origin under this alternative name. However when it came to Europe in 1994, the company changed the name to avoid confusion with British retail chain T J Hughes.
Walkers = Lay’s
Founded in 1948, Walkers continues to be the UK’s leading crisp company. However, Pepsi acquired Walkers and re-branded it internationally with the Lay’s logo in 1989, but kept the old name over here to ensure customer loyalty. The only difference today is the crazy seasonal specials we have, fronted by Gary Lineker.
Cocoa Pops = Choco Krispis
There have actually been various names for this kid-friendly chocolate cereal throughout the years, but this particular version is used in Mexico; the Dominican Republic; El Salvador; Costa Rica and various other South American countries. It also swaps our treasured monkey for an elephant mascot.
KFC = PFK
This one is relatively straight forward, but in parts of Canada where French is spoken, your Kentucky Fried Chicken gets translated into ‘Poulet Frit Kentucky’, meaning the acronym also requires a simple swap.
Mars = Milky Way BUT Milky Way = 3 Musketeers
In what seems like a lot of unnecessary confusion, Mars is a nougat-caramel chocolate bar brought to the UK by the Mars confectionery company, but it was originally called Milky Way in America. However the whipped chocolate Milky Way bar that we Brit-kids know and love is actually a 3 Musketeers bar across the pond…got it?
Edited by: Amy Hawthorne
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBd9RuzW2QM
http://logosfake.wikia.com/wiki/KFC/PFK_(Centlands)
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/tj-maxx-black-friday-ad/
http://secretmenus.com/5-weird-facts-burger-king/