worship the glitch

dbreunig:

Occasionally, companies rebrand in an attempt to leave their image behind.

The SciFi Channel decided it was too geeky and became “SyFy.” Comcast, hounded by a reputation for horrible customer service, adopted the “Xfinity” moniker. The private mercinary group Blackwater became mired in some particularlly rough coverage regarding alledged weapons smuggling, secret assasination programs, and firing on civilians¹. So it became “Xe”.

These companies hope that our memories are short and that constant reiteration will allow them to leave their pasts behind. Sadly, this is often correct.

In the case of Xe, however, several noble reporters have taken to explicitly reminding their readers that Xe is the same shadowy, militia-for-hire formerly known as Blackwater. Here’s an example from Mattheiu Aikins’ fantasic piece “Our Man in Kandahar”:

As part of a countrywide initiative, his men have been trained by two controversial private military firms, DynCorp and Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, at a U.S.-funded center in Spin Boldak, where they are also provided with weapons, vehicles, and communications equipment.

Ever since the 2009 name change, the phrase “formerly known as Blackwater” has become a common addendum to contemporary war coverage. Thankfully, journalists like Aikins recognize that weapons smuggling and other claims should not be as easily shakeable as Comcast’s Xfinity’s poor phone support. I only wish they’d abstain from using “Xe” at all.

To help them out, I’ve written a quick little Safari extension which will correct every instance of “Xe” to “Blackwater.” I call it, “Back in Blackwater.”

Download, install, and quietly brand rebel.

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1. It’s worth mentioning they also hired John Ashcroft to head up a newly created ethics division in 2011. ↩