The makers of ISIS chocolates will change their name to ‘Libeert’ to avoid association with the terror group formerly known as ISIS.
The director of the company, which has been around since 1923, Ignace Libeert, said they experienced a slump in sales as media coverage of the terror group's activity intensified.
“When we saw that the orders, which were planned to get in at the beginning September for this Christmas, they didn't come in from the States or the UK, and we said: 'What's going on here?'
“And they said yes, we have orders but the name ISIS is actually disturbing because our consumers are very upset with that name.”
The chocolate company is the latest in a long list of companies to suffer from the unwanted association.
The family of an 8-year-old Sydney girl called Isis came forward last month, complaining they had been discriminated against because of the association.
And more than 38,000 Isis’s from across the world have signed an online petition to the media to stop using their name to describe the terror group.
A British adult retailer apologised in August after launching a range of lingerie named Isis, but said it did not support jihadists in Iraq and Syria and was standing by its name.
The word originally comes from an Egyptian goddess who was worshipped as an ideal mother and wife, and until recently has had mostly positive connotations.
Chocolate bars bearing the name ISIS have already hit the shops for Christmas, so the company is now preparing for the Easter holidays.
It will take until January 2015 for the full transition to the company's new name to be completed.
