Healing Goddess Isis Bookstore Vandalized, Isis Pharmaceuticals Considers Name Change

Though it began in 1999, ISIS didn’t really begin to capture the world’s attention until June of 2014, when the terrorist thugs declared a caliphate and “swept” into northern Iraq, as reported by Vox.

Though it is a problem similar to one that others have experienced before, at least two business entities, Isis Books & Gifts in Colorado, and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIS), have been experiencing problems because of their sharing of what are becoming four notorious letters with what is being deemed as a growing global menace.

Isis Books & Gifts reports that is uses the Isis name in honor of “the Goddess of healing, magick, fertility and rebirth,” according to Mediaite. The seemingly benevolent purpose behind the store’s existence appears to be lost on a certain segment of the population, who, it appears, cannot tolerate the presence of a storefront bearing the word.

The bookstore has had rocks thrown through its windows, as well as five other instances of vandalism over the past year. The Isis bookstore owner, Jeff Harrison told the St. Catharines Standard that he and his wife, who have operated the business since 1980, “intend to keep the name.”

With quite a different take on the uproar over use of the four “ISIS” letters is Isis Pharmaceuticals. In 2014, Isis CEO Stanley Crooke reportedly stated that the company would not be considering any name change.

“I don’t feel like I want to capitulate to these terrorists by changing my name. They can change their name,” the CEO was quoted.

However, in the wake of the Paris attacks, Isis Pharmaceuticals may be looking at the Isis name in a new light. D. Wade Walke, an Isis vice president and investor relations spokesperson stated that the name was beginning to weigh on the company “quite a bit.” The executive described the Paris terrorist attacks as an “awful tragedy,” according to CNN Money.

Social media users have also voiced the opinion that Isis would be well-advised to change their ticker symbol from ISIS.

“Have they considered changing at least their ticker symbol? Bad century to have this,” a StockTwits user was quoted.

Like the Denver, Colorado-based Isis Books & Gifts, Isis Pharmaceuticals is named after the Egyptian goddess. Both companies chose the name because of its seemingly millennia-spanning association with good health and longevity. Quite different than what the Islamic State is selling.

A situation that may be seen as somewhat similar was in the early 1940s when Pacific Systems Homes was producing one of the first commercially available surfboards, named the “Swastika.” The surfboard featured a swastika on its deck, as reported by the Inquisitr. Though there probably wasn’t a great deal of thought put into the name and the use of the logo when it first came into production, the owners of Pacific Systems realized that a surfboard named “Swastika” probably wasn’t the way to go once news of atrocities began to emerge from World War II-era Germany. The company was reported to have simply quietly changed the name.

With both the Colorado bookstore and the pharmaceutical company, the Isis brand is somewhat more central to the identity of their businesses than a surfboard, which was actually a side line for a company that specialized in system-built houses. It was easy for Pacific Systems Homes to quietly sweep the swastika away during World War II. Sweeping the ISIS connection under the carpet is not so easy for companies for who it defines the reason they exist.

Isis Books & Gifts appear ready to dig in their feet, while Isis Pharmaceuticals looks like they may be getting ready to make a change. There is no apparent word on what new name the pharmaceutical company may have in mind.

[Photo by John Moore/Getty Images]