Trey Parker and Matt Stone have announced a satirical name change for South Park, rebranding it as South America before the Season 29 premiere. The move mocks President Donald Trump's orders to rename geographic landmarks like Lake Ontario.
The 'South America' rebrand and the Season 29 premiere
Ahead of the Season 29 premiere, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone claimed they were changing the name of their long-running animated series to South America. According to Newsweek, the announcement was a promotional stunt designed to parody the Trump administration's efforts to append the word "America" to various geographic features.
The creators framed the move as an act of "bravery and patriotism," specifically citing the influence of major tech firms. While the show will continue to air as South Park, the gag serves as a lead-in to a new season that has already established a pattern of targeting the current administration.
From Lake America to the Gulf of America
The mock rebranding is a direct response to President Donald Trump signing an executive order to refer to Lake Ontario as "Lake America," a move that followed a trade dispute with Canada. As Newsweek reported, this is part of a wider trend of renaming landmarks, including a previous call to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."
Parker and Stone specifically targeted Apple and Google in their statement, as both tech giants updated their mapping services to reflect these administration-ordered changes. This highlights a recurring theme in South Park: the intersection of government decree and corporate compliance, suggesting that the tech companies' willingness to adapt their maps is as noteworthy as the orders themselves.
The $16 million settlement and 'Skydance Capitulation'
Beyond the White House, the creators used the announcement to jab at their own parent company, Paramount. Parker and Stone referred to the organization as a "Skydance Capitulation," a phrase they use to mock Paramount for allegedly bending to political pressure during its merger with Skydance Media.
The tension between the creators and the corporate structure is underscored by recent legal battles. Newsweek notes that Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview and subsequently agreed to dismantle its corporate DEI program... By linking their mock rebrand to this "capitulation ," Parker and Stone are critiquing the financial and political vulnerabilities of the media conglomerates that house them.
An Emmy win and the 'irrelevant' label from the White House
The political friction between the show and the presidency has reached a fever pitch, coinciding with the series winning an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. The winning season featured provocative storylines , including a relationship between Donald Trump and Satan—a callback to the show's treatment of Saddam Hussein—and a depiction of Vice President JD Vance as the character Tattoo from Fantasy Island.
The White House has not been shy about its disdain, issuing a statement that described South Park as "irrelevant for 20 years" and accused the show of relying on "uninspired ideas." This mutual hostility has become a symbiotic relationship, with the show's social media accounts recently celebrating their Emmy win by telling Donald Trump, "You finally got your Emmy."
Will the 'New America' threat spark more episodes?
While the "South America" joke targets existing changes, it remains to be seen how the show will handle Donald Trump's recent threat to rename New Mexico as "New America." Because the president lacks the legal authority to rename a U.S. state, this claim remains an unverified ambition rather than a settled policy.
It is unclear if the creators have already scripted a response to the New Mexico situation or if they are waiting to see if the administration attempts to pressure state officials into a voluntary change. Given the show's history of rapid-response satire , the "New America" claim provides a fertile ground for future Season 29 plotlines.
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