Ever wonder if Ooni Pizza Ovens are the same as Uuni Pizza Ovens? Well, in this article we sort this out and it’s not as obvious as you might think.
Any true lover of home pizzas is familiar with the acclaimed portable pizza oven company Ooni. They’ve been around for almost ten years now (their Kickstarter campaign released in 2012).
However, the name wasn’t always spelled the same way. True connoisseurs (I’d like to include myself in that group) will remember the original title: Uuni.
Uuni Vs Ooni
So, why the name change? Well, it mostly comes down to their newfound global presence and the hope to keep things simple for all the consumers.
While I didn’t shy away from pronouncing the name “Uuni,” I certainly prefer the idea of “Ooni” as the more appropriate phonetic spelling.
You can pronounce both spellings the same way, so they didn’t rebrand themselves too far from the original! We pronounce Ooni as “oo-nee,” just like Uuni was before it.
However, the inclusion of the double “O” rather than the double “U” (which we don’t often see in our language!) makes it all the easier to remember how it’s pronounced.
When Did The Name Change?
Lovers of the Ooni pizza ovens might remember the name change. It happened on 17 July 2018 (just over three years ago now). For most of the newer customers, you might not even have heard about this name until today.
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I’d like to think I’ve encouraged many new buyers to jump on the Ooni bandwagon over the last few years. To those people, I’m writing this article mainly to let you in on a bit of a tale about the history of your favorite pizza oven.
The original spelling didn’t get any complaints from anyone I knew, but I’m sure it must have caused at least a little buzz. Otherwise, they never would have rebranded!
What Changed In The Rebranding?
Business practices are probably the hardest things to figure out after rebranding a company, especially if it established itself six years ago.
I’m sure it was quite a challenge trying to change all their branding over, even if it’s a simple case of drawing a line over a few “Is to turn them into “O”s.
However, we don’t see much of that stuff as it happens on the back-end. Instead, we see the more apparent changes!
First of all, the website needed a change. If you’re marketing a pizza oven model as Ooni but referring people to a website called uuni.com, then you might raise a few questions.
The website domain was the first to go. Also, I just checked, and the domain is now for sale. If you fancy getting your hands on the name and starting up your own competing pizza oven company, you only have to pay a small fee of $500,000!
They also needed to change their email addresses alongside that. I’m sure they redirected their mail for a few months afterward because it would take a while for some of their customers to catch up!
The execution decision to change their social media accounts came next. Sure, if they set this company up a few decades ago, that might not be an option.
Now, with the growing presence of social media, it’s a surprise their name changes on Twitter and Instagram weren’t the first things they thought about doing! I guarantee that’s where most of their business comes from!
What About The Old Models?
Well, this is where the fun begins! A lot of people who still have their old Ooni pizza ovens have them branded as Uuni.
It would have been costly for Ooni to recall all of their products for the simple case of changing the words on there. Not to mention, people were pretty fond of their Uunis, so they had to keep what they already had.
The best part about the Ooni models is that they designed them to last, and this applies to even the oldest models with Uuni as their branded name.
That means that the majority of people who ordered an Uuni before the name changed to Ooni will hold on to a very rare piece of kit!
Although they sold Uuni’s for longer than Ooni’s currently have been, there are more Uuni’s in the world right now – but eventually, that will change!
Collectors might be pretty excited about holding on to an Uuni after the name change. I don’t know much about how prices rise or fall during a collection, but I know that people often get excited when a company rebrands, and they have hold of one of their older products.
Who knows. If Ooni holds on to its global presence for decades to come, people may be seeking the elusive Uuni from years before!
Can You Still Get Uuni Products?
Unfortunately, if you’re interested in getting one of the old products, then you’re out of luck! They’re no longer in circulation.
After the name change announcement, most of the products released by Ooni had the new name already on them. Those that didn’t only took a few more months after that to transition over entirely.
It’s now impossible to buy Uuni products from an official Uuni seller. I’m sure if you put some time into your search, you could find them online where people sell their old gear, but otherwise, you’re not going to come by one!
The newer Ooni products are the way forward anyway! As technology improves and Ooni learns more about the best pizza cooking practices, you’ll be getting a lot more for your money by ordering their newer equipment over their older stuff! Trust me; you can’t go wrong with a brand spanking new Ooni in your yard!
Summary
Well, if anyone ever asks you if it is Ooni or Uuni, you’ll have the answer for it. You can tell a tale starting with “once upon a time” about a small Kickstarter campaign run by the Uuni company.
Nowadays, they go by Ooni since everyone chases after a bit of simplicity. It’s easy to keep all of your client base and customers engaged. You might turn people away if you have a name that looks intimidating and confusing to pronounce, after all!
