New Owners To Drop Name Of Kum & Go Chain

The Drive reports:

Gas station and convenience store chain Kum & Go will reportedly rebrand after being bought out in 2023. The new owners are reportedly worried the double entendre in Kum & Go’s name could hurt its business prospects. Established in Iowa in 1959, Kum & Go was acquired by FJ Management’s Maverik chain in April 2023.

After blowing $2 billion on a competing chain, Maverik is concerned its acquisition’s name—which evidently hasn’t held it back so far—is the problem.

Prior to the sale, Maverik and Kum & Go operated on a similar scale, with 400-some locations across a dozen or more states each. Clearly, customers don’t mind the Kum & Go name, whose potentially crude meaning isn’t some modern invention.

Read the full article. The name change has generated some amusingly feigned outrage on TikTok. According to the Oxford Etymology Dictionary, usage of the word “come” in a sexual sense likely dates back to the 16th century.

Kum & Go Is Changing Its Name and You Know Why https://t.co/v49LyeuCy9

— The Drive (@thedrive) January 13, 2024

@stuffaboutadvertising Farewell Kum&Go. We will miss you. Truly one of the greatest brand names of our time. #branding #marketing #marketingnews ♬ original sound – Stuff About Advertising