“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare

Have you eaten Patagonian toothfish? Ewww, right? Well, if you have eaten Chilean sea bass you have eaten Patagonian toothfish. An American fish wholesaler changed the name to make it more palatable, even though the toothfish is not related to bass and most of the fish labeled as Chilean sea bass does not come from Chile!

There is a long history of rebranding fish to make it more palatable. Here are a few more examples:

Orange roughy was originally slimehead.

Monkfish was originally goosefish.

Sea urchin (Uni on your favorite sushi restaurant’s menu) was originally whore’s eggs.

Peekytoe crab was originally mud crab.

Fish wholesalers are not the only ones who change names to change perceptions. The drug industry has been doing this for years. Urinary incontinence became “light bladder leakage.” Impotence became erectile disfunction. Changing a name changes the perceptions of the disease.

Do you have something you need to rename? We can help!