Talk of the trade: A name to remember

THE Canadian brewery Labatt's has completed a pounds 2m sponsorship deal with Apollo Leisure, giving it exclusive rights to distribute its lagers at Apollo's rock venues in Manchester and London, plus a logo on the two buildings. Fair enough; but why can't it leave the names of these small pieces of cultural history alone? The Hammersmith Odeon - where most of the big names in music, including the Beatles, have played - had already been renamed the Hammersmith Apollo. Now it is to be called the Labatt's Apollo. When will companies putting money into popular culture realise that the names of these venues have a resonance that they have no right to destroy?