Iconic brand reveals it is changing 71-year-old name that became infamous innuendo
Infamous gas station chain Kum & Go will be rebranded with a much less amusing name after being bought out by its conservative rival.
The Midwest icon, created well before its name came to mean something else, was acquired by Salt Lake City-headquartered Maverik last year.
Maverik began renaming outlets in Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming - where both chains competed - and now confimred it would do the same to all 400 stores.
The company said it was 'in the process of rebranding Kum & Go stores, with the intent to unify our entire combined footprint under the Maverik brand'.
Infamous gas station chain Kum & Go will be rebranded with a much less amusing name after being bought out by its conservative rival
The Midwest icon, created well before its name came to mean something else, was acquired by Salt Lake City-headquartered Maverik last year
'While we're committed to this vision, we are taking a thoughtful, market-by-market approach to ensure the best customer experience before confirming each state's rebrand.'
The name change was expected to happen by the middle next year, as loyalty card holders were advised it would be done by mid-2025.
Kum & Go began as in 1959 as Hampton Oil, and adopted the soon-to-be extinct name in the 1970s.
Kum stood for Bill Krause, who founded the company with his father-in-law Tony Gentle, whose name contributed the Go.
'I chose the name that had the fewest number of letters so the signs would be cheaper,' Krause told the Des Monies Register in 1993.
As the decades passed and the name became a double-entendre, Krause not only didn't mind, but leaned into it.
'I can bristle and be offended or I can look at the fact that 100,000 people a day come through the doors of Kum & Go,' he said.
The chain sold merchandice bearing the name, notably worn by Johnny Knoxville in Jackass 2 (pictured) in 2006, and it collaborated with veteran chairites and LGBTQ groups
Kum stood for Bill Krause (left), who founded the company with his father-in-law Tony Gentle (right), whose name contributed the Go. The name was chosen to hav the fewest letters to save costs
The chain sold merchandice bearing the name, notably worn by Johnny Knoxville in Jackass 2 in 2006, and it collaborated with veteran chairites and LGBTQ groups.
After gay online streamer Justin Moore joked about the name, the chain collaborated with him on a line of 'Kum & Gay Rights' and 'Have a Kum & Gay Day' clothing.
Its social media pages were full of quirky memes created by Nadia Trimnell, who built a huge following with only two rules - no politics and no college football.
But after Krause died in 2013 the chain was on borrowed time.
Third-generation owner Kyle Krause needed cash for his dream of building a $500 million real estate project, including a soccer stadium - his real passion - and sold Kum & Go to Maverik last August for about $2 billion.
After gay online streamer Justin Moore joked about the name, the chain collaborated with him on a line of 'Kum & Gay Rights' and 'Have a Kum & Gay Day' clothing
Suddenly, all of Trimnell memes were deleted from the social media pages - even a tweet reading 'protect trans kids. Period.' that was posted just before the sale.
'It's really disappointing, to be honest. We created something so strong and so fun and cool, especially in the Midwest. I'm kind of shocked that they would just delete everything without putting a tribute to it,' she told the Register.
A report by trade magazine CSP Daily News quoted ex-Maverik staff explaining that conservative executives didn't really appreciate the joke.
'I think there was some concern about the inadvertent double entendre of the Kum & Go name,' one said.
Late Show host Stephen Colbert joked that they instead should have changed the name to 'Kum & then maybe stay the night'.
