Penguin Random House: Name Changer

Nobody ever heard of William Arden, Jane Leigh or Oscar Elgee, but they are, in fact, some of the world's most famous authors. They are also part of a Penguin Random House limited edition that BAR Ogilvy created to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th.

For this limited edition the authors will appear with their mothers’ surname on the book covers. Because our last name, the one we become mostly known for, is most often inherited from the father. There’s no rational reason for it, not even a legal one, it’s just a dated convention Penguin Random House is using to launch a conversation about women representation in society.

“A name change designed to change mentalities” is the motto of this project, which is also rallying people to change their last name on social media.

BAR Ogilvy itself changed their name to BAR Fairfield, adopting David Ogilvy’s mother´s maiden name, Dorothy Blew Fairfield.