Good names last — until they don’t.

Maxwell House is a name heard for over a century. It was named after the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville (the brand’s first big customer) and began using the slogan “Good to the Last Drop” as early as 1917.

That’s allegedly what President Theodore Roosevelt had said after tasting the brew in 1907.

The name carried weight. It evoked quality, tradition, reliability.

Last week, Maxwell House — the 133-year-old coffee brand named after that Maxwell House Hotel — pulled off one of the strangest rebrands in recent memory.

For a limited time, it became Maxwell Apartment, sold in “leases” instead of single tins.

At first, people laughed.

I did too. But I didn’t like it.

For a brand tied to Ricardo Montalban’s velvety “Good to the Last Drop” commercials of my generation, it felt like a lame parody.

But then something unexpected happened: it worked. 

The tongue-in-cheek “Maxwell Apartment” packs sold out immediately.

The stunt gave a grandpa brand relevance again, not by running after trends, but by winking at them.

It’s a reminder that names don’t age in a vacuum.

Culture shifts.

Meanings evolve.

And sometimes, the smartest move might not be to cling to your name’s history, but to play with it — to show you’re self-aware enough to have a little fun without losing your roots.

Naming is never a one-time act.

It’s an ongoing reflection of how your brand lives in the world today.

The tool I used for sending these emails was called Convertkit since 2013. Last year, it became Kit.

Renaming is expensive and chances brand equity. But times do change.

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.