They came close to this before.
In the 70's and maybe into the 80's, they would take 2nd's and still label them as Gibsons.
Some of you may remember the "firebrand" Paul and SG they came out with.
I had the Paul.
Not terrible, but not Les Paul Customs, by any stretch of the imagination.
While it wasn't misleading per se, people imagined tht the whole of Gibson's quality went downhill, and it was too expensive a guitar for lower quality.
An Ivy league grad can in from some where, and put tighter controls on the Gibson label, only released thr good guitars as Gibsons, and re-branded the 2nd's as "Epiphones".
I don't know if the same guy is CEO now (I learned this stuff touring the electric factory, in 2004, when it was still in Memphis).
Maybe they just couldn't survive the 2008 to 2016 economy?