Businesses named ISIS now face an identity crisis with the worldwide emergence of the terrorist organization Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Isis Books & Gifts, a spirituality bookstore located in the US city of Denver, was vandalized - again - following the Paris attacks last Friday, even though they have been opened for 35 years.
The store is named after the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage, and wisdom.
In 2013, a Belgian chocolate manufacturer called Italo Suisse rebranded to ISIS. With the extremist group receiving increased media coverage though, the company saw their sales decline in 2014 and renamed the company again. This time they went with the less controversial Libeert.
In 2014, UK retailer Ann Summers was forced to apologize after it released a new line of lingerie called Isis.
The chain explained that the Isis thongs, bras, and suspenders were, like the other businesses, named after the Egyptian goddess and had been chosen months prior.
Needless to say, the retailer later apologized for the “unfortunate timing” and also confirmed the store “in no way supports or condones any act of terrorism or violence.”
It doesn’t stop there either. US-based Isis Pharmaceuticals is under pressure to reconsider its name at the moment too.
The $7.2 billion pharmaceutical company’s name is 25 years old, but after its stock price fell 4 percent on Monday, its CEO says they are now considering a name change.