10 June 2002 PwC Consulting, one of the so-called ‘big five’ consultancy companies, announced its new name today and in the process attracted a hailstorm of mockery and criticism.

The new name – Monday – was dreamed up by a professional branding consultancy after two months of hard thinking. The name is intended to be associated with fresh thinking and a fresh start, but it has inevitably attracted more cynical interpretations.

Overall, the re-branding and the associated promotion will cost the firm $110 million (€116.8m).

PwC Consulting, which among other activities offers strategic advice to technology industry companies and their customers, has been forced into the name change because it plans to separate from its auditing partner PricewaterhouseCoopers and float in the US in August.

Critics in the press have enjoyed mocking the new name, citing the Boomtown Rats’ song “I don’t like Mondays”, and the 1966 Mama’s and Papa’s hit “Monday, Monday”, which includes the lines “..whenever Monday comes, you can find me cryin’ all of the time”.

PwC Consulting, which said the name is “short, distinctive, memorable and global”, must have expected criticism – every major corporate name change is usually mocked mercilessly. And many staff may well prefer the name from the distinctly grey PwC Consulting.