The ravages of the Islamic State have been one of the dominant news stories of 2014. But before this year, few were even aware of the organization. Originally a splinter of al-Qaeda, it has shaken foreign governments in ways its former parent never could.

Among those who hadn't heard of the terrorist group was Desiree Libeert, marketing manager of Belgian chocolate company Italo Suisse. The chocolate maker changed its name late last year to ISIS, which also happens to be an acronym popularly used to refer to the Islamic State. Italo Suisse was the company's name since 1923, reflecting the European chocolate-making traditions it sought to bring to Belgium.

"We chose ISIS as that was the brand name of our pralines and tablets," Libeert told Reuters. "Had we known there was a terrorist organization with the same name, we would have never chosen that."

According to Reuters, the chocolate company makes more than 5,000 tons of chocolate annually.

Its Web site is still branded "ISIS Chocolates" and has a frankly adorable "About Us" section, including this guarantee: "Every time the connoisseur samples a piece of our chocolate or one of our filled chocolates he/she is assured a moment of pure pleasure. This assurance extends to ISIS Christmas or St. Nicholas themed chocolate figures or eggs and bunnies for Easter."



(Screenshot from www.isischocolates.be)

But the mayhem and slaughter carried out by Islamic State militants has compelled ISIS chocolates to change its name. "We had international customers saying that they could no longer stock our chocolate as consumers had only negative associations with the name," Libeert told Reuters.

The company will now be called "Libeert," the name of the family which owns and runs it.

The chocolate maker is not the only ISIS to be forced into rebranding. Earlier this year, WorldViews documented the problems that assailed a mobile wallet app called Isis, which has renamed itself Softcard.

The acronym "ISIS" as a designation for the militants is the source of considerable debate, with some clinging to another construction — "ISIL" — and others, including The Washington Post, now referring to the jihadists as the Islamic State. There is also a camp which insists on using the Arabic acronym for the group, "Daesh," which is considered more pejorative.

Whatever the case, the terrorists' brand is so toxic that it has even disturbed the fictional universe. Earlier this month, the executive producer of the animated television spy series "Archer" said the show would discretely do away with the name of the titular protagonist's employer: the International Secret Intelligence Service.

"We won’t say ISIS anymore," said Matt Thompson. "It’s just the most awful thing, and we didn’t want to have anything to do with it."