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We have seen that bookings are down at Trump’s hotels, because he has made his brand toxic, and as Mark Cuban has pointed out, every time he opens his mouth, he makes it worse. Bernie Madoff, said Cuban, has a better brand.

The Trumps must be aware of this, because according to Travel and Leisure,

Amidst reports that occupancy rates at Trump Hotels have slipped this election season, the company has announced that new brand hotels will no longer bear the Trump name.



The newest line of luxury hotels, geared towards millennials, will be called Scion, the company said.

Cuban’s response to the name change is memorable:

Wow !!! Trump won't put his name on new hotels. Even he knows his brand is over. Say goodnight Donnie. https://t.co/ue9erP8Dnh — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) October 19, 2016

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As Newsweek‘s Kurt Eichenwald quipped,

Actually, are Trumps so dumb they think Toyota will let them use a trademarked name that could make ppl believe the car is trump-affiliated? — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 22, 2016

Worse, he tweeted,

U'd think that if Trump Org was going to steal the name of a car for their luxury hotels, they'd pick a Maserati or Bentley, not a Toyota. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 22, 2016

Ivanka Trump claims all is well, saying “Our business at Trump Hotels is stronger than ever and we are incredibly excited about the future of Scion, the newest brand in our hotel portfolio,” but then the Trump children all say their dad respects women, and that Hillary Clinton started the whole birther thing – after their dad made it a big deal.

Wikipedia tells us that “Scion was a marque of Toyota started in 2003 designed as an extension of its efforts to appeal towards younger customers.” Interestingly, the whole Scion Hotel thing is supposed to appeal to millennials as well, whom apparently the Trumps think are as shady as, well…the Trumps.

It is easy to imagine that since Trump thinks it’s okay to use other people’s money, it is prefectly alright to use other people’s brands – you know, since his own is toxic.

The word “scion” means descendant or heir, as in “scion of the Trump family” so if the new hotels are supposed to be descended from Trump Hotels, the name makes a sort of sense, but as a brand name, Scion is already associated with Toyota.

Trump can claim whatever he wants about the name-change, but nobody is going to be fooled, given that it’s hardly a secret that Trump = Scion. It’s another clumsy attempt to protect himself from the destruction he has wrought upon his own brand.