Donald Trump’s insistence on unilaterally renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America” has kicked off a series of culture war battles. The Associated Press, for one, has refused to use the new name, which has gotten its reporters banned from the White House press room.
Big Tech, on the other hand, as has been their wont in the second Trump era, has gone along with what the president wants, including his preferred mapping nomenclature. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have all agreed to change the name of their mapping products.
However, one big — or at least formerly big — name in online mapping is bucking the trend. And that’s MapQuest.
MapQuest is a name from an earlier Internet era. Launched on the web in 1996, the company went public in 1999 and was acquired by AOL in 2000. In the days before Waze, people going on road trips would print out MapQuest directions and take them in the car.
The company has been somewhat overtaken by its rivals, but it is still around, and this week, it made news on BlueSky by declaring that it was keeping the old name of the Gulf of Mexico.
MapQuest is NOT renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Our maps are like grandma’s Thanksgiving recipes — once they’re printed, they’re not changing. The Gulf of Mexico stays put on MapQuest.
— MapQuest (@mapquest.com) January 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
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“MapQuest is NOT renaming the Gulf of Mexico,” the post from January said. “Our maps are like grandma’s Thanksgiving recipes — once they’re printed, they’re not changing. The Gulf of Mexico stays put on MapQuest.”
And now, per HuffPost, MapQuest is allowing users to name the Gulf of Mexico whatever they want.
Because you TOTALLY asked for this… and MapQuest has NOTHING better to do…
We’ve granted you exclusive access to a place very dear to our heart: gulfof.mapquest.com
Think of it as the Upside Down but more… minimalist. Pls share so we can behold your genius (or judge you lovingly) 😘
— MapQuest (@mapquest.com) February 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
It appears to be an example of a legacy brand trying to find a new niche by appealing to Resistance Liberals of a certain age who have formative memories of MapQuest. Stephen Colbert has embraced it.
Some users have had some fun with it:
Apologies @MapQuest. I wasn’t familiar with your game. pic.twitter.com/DhypTKGOyB
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) February 15, 2025
“Mapquest won’t be getting invited to the White House anytime soon. They’ve created a tool where you can make up names for the Gulf of Mexico.” mastodon.scot/@bodhipaksa/…
— Steve Randy Waldman (@interfluidity.com) February 16, 2025 at 6:53 PM
I knew MapQuest still exists because our travel reimbursement policy still requires us to use MQ to document mileage.
Use MapQuest to rename the Gulf: gulfof.mapquest.com
— Stentor Danielson (@chefstentor.bsky.social) February 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Mapquest is letting you name the Gulf of Mexico whatever you like, here: gulfof.mapquest.com?fbclid=IwY2x…
I named it the Gulf of Lobster Bisque because I really like lobster bisque. Look how much lobster bisque there is now! 🦞 🥣 Enjoy, & share your own creations.
— J. Offir, PhD (@joffirphd.bsky.social) February 14, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Photo courtesy of Mapquest web screenshot.
