A lot of people have taken to Twitter to share their take on Facebook’s name change to Meta.
Hebrew-speaking social media users took to the micro-blogging site to poke fun at Facebook’s name change.
According to them, the word Meta means “Facebook is Dead.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Facebook announced that the company would henceforth become Meta.
Facebook announced that it has changed its brand name to accommodate its new products and services.
“From now on, we are going to be Metaverse first, not Facebook first,” Zuckerberg said Thursday.
ALSO READ: Reasons Why Facebook Changed Brand Name To Meta
The company’s CEO revealed that he had been considering a rebrand since about 2014, when Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp.
He said he decided to make the change earlier this year.
“I think it’s helpful for people to have a relationship with a company that is different from the relationship with any specific one of the products, that can kind of supersede all of that.”
Specifically, the company, in a post, said the name change is to reflect Facebook’s push into the “metaverse.”
However, this was widely ridiculed on social media.
Particularly in Israel, the renaming caused a stir as the new company name is similar to the Hebrew word for “dead.”
Using the hashtag #FacebookDead, the social media users in Israel mocked Facebook.
They said the company did not do its homework well before choosing the name Meta.
Particularly, a user tweeted saying, “Grave error?? Facebook’s new name Meta means dead in Hebrew. Hilarious. #FacebookDead”.
This is not the first time a company faces ridicule over name change.
In 2019, Kim Kardashian West had to change the name of her brand to Skims later in the year.
This was after she had initially named her shapewear brand Kimono.
She even trademarked the word “kimono.”
However, according to a report by TimesofIsrael.com, critics accused her of cultural appropriation.
Consequently, the mayor of Kyoto, Daisaku Kadokawa, criticized her saying thus:
“We think that the names for ‘Kimono’ are the asset shared with all humanity who love Kimono and its culture therefore they should not be monopolized.”
Also, MCDonald got similar treatment in China when it changed its name to another that sounded like furniture store.
The company had swapped Maidanglao, a Chinese iteration of the English name, to Jingongmen, which loosely translates to “Golden Arches.”
Facebook’s Meta will for long raise eyebrows in Israel over its meaning to them.
Author of The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication, Dr Nirit Weiss-Blatt, tweeted saying thus:
“In Hebrew, *Meta* means *Dead* The Jewish community will ridicule this name for years to come.”
Implication:
Clearly, the acceptance of any company’s brand name goes a long way to determine how people relate with such brands.
If users in Hebrew-speaking Israelis think the name Meta means dead, it could make them not want to join Zuckerberg’s Metaverse.
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