A Helsinki children’s theatre group has changed its name from Isis to Osiris to avoid association with the extremist militia Islamic State, the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS) reports on Tuesday.
“The goddess Isis sang, wept and danced her beloved spouse Osiris to life: and so the leading responsibility of our theatre has been given to OSIRIS,” the company said in a statement in May.
The troupe is the latest in a series of firms worldwide to change their name following the gory rise of the Islamist group. These include a Belgian chocolatier, a US mobile payment company and a UK private equity firm.
Subconscious damage
The drama troupe, established in 1997, combines dance, theatre, legends and indigenous folklore in its productions, some of which are aimed at babies and their families.
"I believe that it affects parents subconsciously," the theatre’s artistic director Liisa Isotalo told the newspaper. "Our children’s productions have not succeeded very well."
Whereas most similarly-named companies rebranded last year, Isotalo says that the theatre’s staff has long resisted a change, seeing it as handing their own name over to the terrorist group. However the final straw came this spring when a partner said it would be embarrassing to market plays by a theatre named Isis.
The name could have also hindered hopes of taking productions abroad. For instance the troupe hopes to take its dance tribute to Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck to the US, but fears that boxes labelled “Isis” might run into trouble with customs officials, says Isotalo, adding that it’s surprisingly difficult to change an established company’s name.
ISIS acronym outdated?
Meanwhile the Helsinki language firm Isis Translations refuses to give up on its name. Managing Director Linda Ahlblad tells HS: “I’ve been a fan of [the goddess] Isis since I was a kid. I have a right to this name.” Her company has been up and running since 2008.
Last September, Ahlblad issued a statement “appealing to the international media to use the abbreviation IS when referring to the so-called ‘Islamic State’ in place of the outdated ISIS acronym.” She noted that “the use of the ISIS acronym in connection with terrorism has led to some difficult situations, since her agency, Isis, also has foreign customers,” adding that “neither Ms Ahlblad nor her agency have anything to do with the jihadist group”.
Ahlblad asked the Institute for the Languages of Finland (Kotus) to issue guidelines on what the group should be called in Finnish. It said that “IS” could be used, but pointed out that this abbreviation is already established in Finland representing Ilta-Sanomat, one of the country’s second-largest newspaper after its sister paper, HS.
"If Isis is the name of a consumer brand, I would strongly recommend changing it,” Henrik af Ursin, a trademark expert at the Helsinki law firm Dittmar & Indrenius commented to HS. “Consumer choices are often based on emotions, even if it’s clear that the name existed before the terrorist group."