Illustration by Cathy Wilcox from businessday.com.au

Kraft Foods has admitted to making a massive mistake when naming its new Vegemite product iSnack2.0. Our previous post reports Kraft defending the name, saying it “was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original”.

But the iStupid name has sparked an avalanche of negative reaction in the press, on blogs and on social media sites on both sides of the Tasman. It would have been foolhardy for the company to ignore such feedback, so it has decided to retrace its steps and issue this statement:

Since the announcement of the new Vegemite name at the AFL Grand Final, Kraft Foods has heard consumers’ like the taste; they just don’t like the name.

Kraft Foods Australia/New Zealand Head of Corporate Affairs, Simon Talbot, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the passion for Vegemite and the new product. The new name has simply not resonated with Australians. Particularly the modern technical aspects associated with it.

“At no point in time has the new Vegemite name been about initiating a media publicity stunt. We are proud custodians of Vegemite, and have always been aware that it is the people’s brand and a national icon.

“Our Kraft Foods storeroom currently has thousands of jars of the iSnack2.0 named Vegemite. This product will be distributed around Australia, and will continue to be sold in supermarkets for months to come – until Australia decides upon a new name.”

“Australians and New Zealanders will shortly be invited to help us make a choice. Please bear with us for the next 48 hours as we finalise how Australians and New Zealanders can decide the new name through an independent popularity vote.”

The full statement can be seen here.

We knew it would never work: “I said to him ‘Do ya speak-a my language?’ He just smiled and gave me an iSnack2.0 sandwich.”

Return to StopPress on Friday to see what Kraft has conjured up. To any Aussies reading this: send over a few jars, will ya, they’re collector’s items now!

Responding to a demand for a spread that did not need butter, Kraft relaunched Vegemite in June this year with a creamier texture and held a competition to find a new name. It still looks and smells like the old Vegemite but is more spreadable. How? They added cream cheese!

So iSnack2.0 is a poo-coloured, dairy-fat laden spread for the new generation – mmm, tasty.

The new name was announced during half time at the AFL final in Melbourne on Saturday. By the end of the game iSnack2.0 was a dirty word on Twitter (see #vegefail) and Australian blogs are full of it too, crikey.com.au is a goody. Who cares that the Geelong Cats won, iSnack2.0 is getting all the press.

Kraft Foods head of corporate affairs Simon Talbot defends the new name, saying it “was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original. We believe these three components completely encapsulate the new brand.” And even if people don’t like the name, “fundamentally they like the new product”.

More than 2.8 million jars of the stuff has been sold since June.

Is the new name so bad it’s good for publicity? Will one taste turn me into a web nerd touting html code in an annoying Aussie accent?

But wait, there’s more!