Leading article: What's in a name?

Wednesday 12 January 2011 01:00 GMT
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Re-branding has has become anew-year theme. Last week Starbucksannounced that it was changing its logo, ditching the lettering on its coffee cups. And yesterday Goldman Sachs revealed plans to launch a new ethics committee that will ask not just "Can we?" but also "Should we?" Think less vampire squid and more cuddly puppy.

Meanwhile, the Coalition wants to shake off its reputation as a heartless cutter of public services and present itself as a champion of "alarm-clock Britain". The name is a reference to all those hard-working people who don't sleep in of a morning. Sadly, what most of us associate with an alarm clock is a deeply unwelcome noise.

Yet we cannot help thinking that the individual in most urgent need of a re-brand is the head of Barclays who found himself the subject of an uncomfortable two-hour grilling by the Treasury Select Committee yesterday: Bob Diamond.

How does Mr Diamond expect to defend bankers' bonuses with a name that is so resonant of wealth and opulence? A change is clearly in order. We suggest: Bob Diamante. They are cheap and create a little sparkle: just what many people need in an age of austerity.

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