Wert’s Werds: Is stolen credibility the business version of stolen valor?

I have had something rattling around in my head and I just keep finding coming back to the same thought. It’s a thought which seems a little out there at first, but the more you ponder it, the more it seems legitimate. So, I’m writing it out, and if you wish, come along for the ride.

What I was thinking about is whether or not “stolen credibility” is the modern-day business equivalent of the military’s “stolen valor.” As most of you in this patriotic haven know, stolen valor is when someone presents as legitimate fake medals, invent combat stories, or wear uniforms they did not earn. They try to gain the respect of people around them using the sweat, tears and literal blood of others. 

When a business tries to pass themselves off as being the continuation of a previous business with a long history and reputation, when in reality, they’re a new entity who haven’t proven anything, is that the same kind of open deception as someone exercising stolen valor?

Think about this for a moment. Let’s say you have an award-winning restaurant called Harold’s. 

Harold’s is stacked with talent. The kitchen staff has some all-stars. Julia Child came back from the dead to run the brigade. The chefs included Bobby Flay and Gordon Ramsay and Paula Deen for that southern touch. Plus, a guy named Bill who was the prep cook and then dishwasher after the food for the day was prepped. 

Then, one day through the fault of nobody actually producing the restaurant’s experience, not a maître d’, not a waiter or server, not anyone in the kitchen, the restaurant closes down and lays off the entire staff. Not a pause, not a break, not a minor interruption, a flat-out closure. 

A company comes along and makes a deal with the restaurant owners for the name of the place. They pretend they’re reopening the closed business, but they only hire back the maître d’, one waiter and Bill, the prep cook. So, basically, they started a new business using an old name, brought back a few token employees, and pretend it’s not something new. 

I mean, that’s just flat out deceptive, right?

The reason I was thinking about this was something I recently saw concerning a business that many of us have known most of our lives. A name that when I mention it, I promise you people all over Branson and Taney and Stone counties will know the business.

That business?

Toys "R" Us.

I was walking through a mall this week with some friends when one of them made a noise expressing their surprise as they pointed to a store. 

“Oh my God!” she said. “When did Toys ‘R’ Us come back? I love Toys ‘R’ Us!”

The space was huge, but wide open, with large gaps between the toy sections. In an odd way, there was a darkness because the overhead lighting never quite seemed to be bright enough for the space. The branding was there. There was even a version of the legendary mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe, although it was a modernized version which honestly was a little creepy to me. 

I honestly didn’t know when Toys “R” Us made a comeback, so I ran to Wikipedia. When the old company went bankrupt in 2018, they closed all their stores. The company then transferred the intellectual property, name and images to the creditors who started a new company, Tru Kids, which then brought a new company calling itself Toys “R” Us.

To the average person, like my friends and me, it looked like the old Toys “R” Us.

It wasn’t, but they were trying everything they could to make it think that it was the same company.

You can bring back a beloved name or business in a way that doesn’t pretend you’re anything other than a new business yourself. We had a great example here in the Ozarks. 

In 2019, there was an announcement that the beloved Red’s Giant Hamburg was being revived. They used the name, but also said it wasn’t the same thing "Red" Chaney had done, but rather a new thing paying homage. It was a new thing, with an old name, and even though it only lasted about six years, it developed its own positive reputation in the community. 

I don’t know if stolen credibility is the right term for what Toys “R” Us has done. However, it was clear to me a new business pretending they’re a continuation of an old when it’s not is pretty deceptive.