Comedy Central's long-running animated series briefly appeared under a new name this week: “South America.” The switch, spotted on TV listings and the network's own website, was a pointed satirical response from creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to Apple and Google's decision to display “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario on their U.S. map apps.
According to NBC News, Parker and Stone are the creators of the show, which airs on Comedy Central, a network owned by Paramount Skydance. Producers said the rebrand was directly aimed at Apple and Google after both companies updated their mapping applications to reflect President Trump's push for U.S.-centric geographic titles. Comedy Central's website listed the show under the title “South America,” while TV Guide still showed it as “South Park” as of Wednesday morning, per the same NBC News report.
An Executive Order Sparks a Map App Makeover
The saga traces back to Executive Order 14422, which President Trump signed on August 27, directing federal agencies and the Geographic Names Information System and Board on Geographic Names to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” in official U.S. maps and documents, according to the White House. Trump cited U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking operations and $4 billion in federal Great Lakes funding as justification for the change. Hoodline previously covered the original executive order and the backlash it drew from New York officials.
By early September, Apple had updated its mapping app to display “Lake America” for U.S. users and “Lake Ontario” for users in Canada, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. NBC News reported that Apple did not immediately respond to its requests for comment, and Google also did not immediately respond.
Not every company played along. Navigation app MapQuest publicly refused, posting “We're not changing it” on social media, a stance that helped drive the app to No. 1 on Apple's free U.S. App Store chart, according to CNN. MapQuest reported its traffic surged to roughly 50 times its normal levels following the refusal.
Public Opinion Runs the Other Way
A September Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 63% of U.S. adults opposed renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” while only 14% supported the executive order, per Mediaite. The same survey found 57% of Americans opposed Trump's 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejected the U.S. renaming effort, noting that “Ontario” derives from the Indigenous Wendat word “Ontari'io,” meaning “shining lake,” and predates both sovereign nations, according to The Guardian.
Trump followed the Lake Ontario move with another push over Labor Day weekend, floating a rename of New Mexico to “New America,” a proposal Hoodline covered when the governor rejected the idea.
A Dig at the Show's Own Corporate Parent
The “South America” stunt wasn't only aimed at Apple and Google. Parker and Stone also thanked their parent company, Paramount, sarcastically calling it “a Skydance Capitulation.”
The jab arrives despite — or perhaps because of — the show's relationship with its corporate parent. NBC News reported that Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the renaming, nor did the White House.
The Latest Chapter in an Escalating Trump Satire
The show's current season has also included satire aimed at Donald Trump.
The show also celebrated an Emmy-related moment by posting a satirical image on social media depicting Trump holding an Emmy statue with his trousers around his ankles, as reported by The Washington Post. Season 29 of “South Park” is set to premiere on Comedy Central on September 16 at 10 p.m. EDT and PDT.
