From today’s Sydney Morning Herald:

Faced with the overwhelming rejection of iSnack 2.0, Kraft has done an about-turn and ditched the name of its new Vegemite cream cheese blend.

I have to defer to Ben (comments on this post) and admit that it does have the whiff of an advertising hoax, despite Kraft’s protestations to the contrary:

The new name has simply not resonated with Australians. Particularly the modern technical aspects associated with it ~ Simon Talbot, company spokesman.

But as I see it, if it is a publicity stunt, then the po-faced attitude from Kraft is baffling. Talbot also stated:

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.

Ben would undoubtedly say this is some kind of clever misdirection, but in my opinion, that kind of ploy can only work if the intended victims feel like they’ve been outfoxed or are amused. Since neither of these cards seem to be in play, all that’s left is bewilderment. Are they trying to cover their asses because it’s a crap joke that backfired? Are they sincere? Are they afraid that they’ve been caught cynically exploiting a loyal legion of fans? Is it all an attempt to spin out the publicity a little more?

Who knows? In the end, all that Kraft and their advertisers have done is to attract attention to a concoction of dubious desirability, and to confuse everyone. The Product Formerly Known As iSnack 2.0 will ultimately live or die on its market appeal, not on an advertising campaign. Since I believe it’s a poorly conceived grab at expanding market share by trading off the back of a cultural icon, my money is on die.