Saying it wanted to avoid any confusion about its role, Australia’s national statistics agency will be renamed the Bureau of Mathematics, or BOM for short.
A spokesperson for the organisation said the change was an obvious one. “The acronym ‘ABS’ is a bit old now and people are getting over-familiar with it – it’s just too descriptive. So we thought it was time for a change. BOM rolls of the tongue nicely, plus it’s available. We checked yesterday and no-one else is using it”.
The name-change is the result of a $7 million rebranding consultation. A further $40 million will be spent updating signage and office stationery.
As part of the rebrand, the old ABS will change its Twitter handle to @BOM_au which is currently available.
The agency has asked members of the media to use ‘BOM’ in the first instance and “the Bureau” in subsequent references. “We think that will lessen any confusion,” the spokesperson said.
In unrelated news, the Australian Electoral Commission will rebrand as the Australian Ballot Service, or ‘ABS’ for short.
Headline by Bathroom Spider
