South Park’s creators are renaming the show ‘South America’ in a jab at Apple and Google
By Aditi Bharade ...
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Aditi Bharade
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South Park isn't holding back any punches — it just took a dig at Apple and Google.
The satirical comedy show shared an announcement from its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, on Instagram on Tuesday, ahead of the release of its 29th season on September 16.
"Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA," the creators wrote in the statement.
The post was accompanied by a picture of the South Park logo, with a license plate spelling out "AMERICA" pinned over the word "Park." A glowing US flag was added in the corner for extra flourish.
Parker and Stone's reference to Apple and Google was a barely veiled mockery of the companies for changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on their map platforms.
On August 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename the water body that straddles the US and Canadian border. The order instructed the US government to change the name of the lake in federal maps, contracts, and documents. It came amid rising trade tensions between the two neighbors.
Days after Trump's order, Google said it had updated Google Maps such that US users would see "Lake America," Canadian users would see "Lake Ontario," and users outside these two countries would see "Lake Ontario (Lake America)."
The tech giant said it updates Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which in the US is the US Geographic Names Information System. It made similar changes last year with the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the Gulf of America.
Apple Maps followed suit the week after, renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users.
South Park, which debuted on Comedy Central in 1997, is a satirical animated comedy about four elementary school kids living in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado. Over its nearly three-decade run, it has a history of trolling the bigwigs of politics, tech, and media, including Trump, CBS, and Tim Cook.
In their Instagram statement, Parker and Stone also took a quick swipe at South Park's parent company, Paramount Skydance, which was created after David Ellison of Skydance Media bought out Paramount in 2025.
"We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount — a Skydance Capitulation," they wrote.
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Aditi Bharade
You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Aditi is a news reporter at Business Insider’s Singapore bureau. She covers hustle culture and the future of work, focusing on how AI and technology are reshaping jobs, careers, and workplaces.She previously worked for The Straits Times, where she wrote breaking news stories for the Singapore desk. She studied communications and business at Nanyang Technological University.
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