Foreign branding
Encyclopedia
Foreign branding is an advertising
and marketing
term describing the implied cachet or superiority of products and services with foreign or foreign-sounding names.
-speaking countries, many cosmetics
and fashion
brands use French
or Italian
-styled names to imply a connection to the style-conscious, while the northern European and Japanese names imply high quality.
Of course, non-English "foreign" brand names are also possible, for example:
) are often used to give a foreign flavor to a brand that does not consist of foreign terms.
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
term describing the implied cachet or superiority of products and services with foreign or foreign-sounding names.
English-speaking countries
In EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-speaking countries, many cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
and fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
brands use French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
or Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
-styled names to imply a connection to the style-conscious, while the northern European and Japanese names imply high quality.
- Pret A MangerPret A MangerPret a Manger is a British sandwich retail chain based in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. The name "Pret a Manger" comes from the French prêt à manger, meaning "ready to eat", a reference to prêt-à-porter .The company was founded in London in 1986 by friends Sinclair Beecham and...
sandwichSandwichA sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
retail chain is BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - Grey PouponGrey PouponGrey Poupon is a brand of Dijon mustard in the U.S.The brand of Dijon-style mustard was originally owned and marketed in the U.S. by the Heublein Company and now owned and manufactured by Kraft Foods. Like other Dijon mustards, Grey Poupon contains a small amount of white wine. It is made with...
Dijon mustard was created by American Heublein Company. - Häagen-DazsHäagen-DazsHäagen-Dazs is a brand of ice cream, established by Jewish-Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1961. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, New York, on November 15, 1976...
ice creamIce creamIce cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
, has a faux-ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n name, but was established by Jewish-Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose MattusReuben and Rose MattusReuben and Rose Mattus were Polish American entrepreneurs who founded the Häagen-Dazs ice cream business.Rose Mattus was born as Rose Vesel into a tailoring family who made theatrical costumes in Manchester. Her Jewish parents had come from Poland...
in the BronxThe BronxThe Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. - VichyssoiseVichyssoiseVichyssoise is a thick soup made of puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock. It is traditionally served cold, but can also be eaten hot.-Origin:...
, a cold potato and leek soup, was invented at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York in the 1910s but it was given a French name. - DolmioDolmioDolmio is the brand name of a range of pasta sauces made by Mars. They range from jars of sauces to express style packets.Dolmio are the current sponsors of the long running ITV1 magazine show This Morning.-Australia:...
sauce has an Italian-sounding name but is made by Masterfoods in Australia. - Kan-Tong has an Asian-sounding name but is made by Masterfoods in Australia.
- "Möben" is a trademark of the English company Moben Kitchens, implying the perceived higher quality of German and Scandinavian kitchenKitchenA kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
s. - Matsui is Japanese-sounding brand of electrical retailer Dixons (UK).
- Ginsu knives have a Japanese-sounding name "Ginsu" (Kanji Japanese: 銀簾, Hiragana: ぎんす) but are made in America by Douglas Quikut
- RykäRyka-History:Rykä was founded in 1987 by Sheri Poe, who had the idea of designing a better-fitting athletic shoe for women. Today, the company is now owned by American Sporting Goods, who also owns the Avia line of shoes...
shoes are given a Scandinavian-looking name, despite being an American company. - BerghausBerghausBerghaus Limited is an outdoor clothing and equipment manufacturer headquartered in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England. It is based in the North East of England but distributes worldwide. It was founded in 1966 by climbers and mountaineers Peter Lockey and Gordon Davison, initially as an importer and...
, a British Outdoor Equipment company that converted the name of its first premises (LD Mountain Centre) roughly into German to market its own products. - GrüGRUGRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
, the gravy-themed restaurant, originated in Detroit, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
In non-English-speaking countries
In non-English-speaking countries, many brands use English or specifically American-styled names for effect.- Germany's "Rock Hard" and "Metal Hammer" magazines.
- In JapanEconomy of JapanThe economy of Japan, a free market economy, is the third largest in the world after the United States and the People's Republic of China, and ahead of Germany at 4th...
Pocari SweatPocari Sweatis a popular Japanese soft drink and sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. It was launched in 1980 and is now also available in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East....
, a popular sports drink marketed in Japan by the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., abbreviated OPC, is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo, Osaka and Naruto, Japan. The company was established August 10, 1964, and currently has approximately 27,000 employees worldwide. The company focuses on pharmaceuticals related to nutrition...
, has a name that to many English speakers would imply that the product actually contains sweatSWEATSWEAT is an OLN/TSN show hosted by Julie Zwillich that aired in 2003-2004.Each of the 13 half-hour episodes of SWEAT features a different outdoor sport: kayaking, mountain biking, ice hockey, beach volleyball, soccer, windsurfing, rowing, Ultimate, triathlon, wakeboarding, snowboarding, telemark...
, rather than the intended meaning of a beverage intended to replace the electrolyteElectrolyteIn chemistry, an electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that make the substance electrically conductive. The most typical electrolyte is an ionic solution, but molten electrolytes and solid electrolytes are also possible....
s lost in sweating. - South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
-based LG ElectronicsLG ElectronicsLG Electronics is a global electronics and telecommunications company headquartered in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. The company operates its business through five divisions: mobile communications, home entertainment, home appliance, air conditioning and business solution...
named its washer and dryer line TrommTrommTromm is the trade name for washers and dryers manufactured by LG Electronics. They are designed and often sold in pairs and have many functions, such as child lock, delayed wash timers, and multiple spin speed selection...
. One of the reasons for selecting this foreign sounding name was to imply to the Korean domestic market a connection to the perceived superior quality o foreign brands - but TrommTrommTromm is the trade name for washers and dryers manufactured by LG Electronics. They are designed and often sold in pairs and have many functions, such as child lock, delayed wash timers, and multiple spin speed selection...
is a now a global product line.
Of course, non-English "foreign" brand names are also possible, for example:
- The Swedish snack food company Estrella is named after the Spanish word for star.
Products renamed to avoid offence
- The company BicSociété BicSociété Bic is a company based in Clichy, France, founded in 1945, by Baron Marcel Bich known for making disposable products including lighters, magnets, ballpoint pens, shaving razors and watersports products. It competes in most markets against Faber-Castell, Global Gillette, Newell Rubbermaid...
changed its name from Bich (bik) to prevent it from being mispronounced in English speaking countries as bitch. - Mitsubishi PajeroMitsubishi PajeroThe Mitsubishi Pajero is a sport utility vehicle manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. It was named after Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas Cat which is native to the Patagonia plateau region of southern Argentina. However, since pajero is an offensive term for "wanker" in Spanish, alternative names have...
had to be renamed to Montero in Spain and Spanish speaking countries in North and South America, since pajero is a Spanish slang term for one who masturbates (with similar connotations as the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
slang term wankerWankerWanker is a pejorative term of English origin, common in Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth countries, including Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It initially referred to an onanist but has since become a general insult. It is synonymous with tosser.-Meaning:The term wanker...
). Mitsubishi originally got the name Pajero from the pampas cat, Leopardus pajerosPampas CatThe Colocolo is a small spotted and striped cat native to the west Andean slope in central and northern Chile. Until recently it included the more widespread Pampas Cat and Pantanal Cat , and some maintain these as subspecies of the Colocolo...
. - The HondaHondais a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
FitHonda FitThe Honda Jazz is a five-door hatchback subcompact manufactured by the Honda Motor Company of Japan, first introduced in June 2001 and is now in its second generation. The Jazz shares Honda's Global Small Car Platform with the City/Fit Aria, Airwave/Partner, Mobilio, Mobilio Spike, Freed and Freed...
was originally intended to be named the "Fitta", but the name was shortened and in some markets renamed completely upon discovering that in several Nordic languages, "fitta" is a vulgar word for the female genitalia. - BuickBuickBuick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
had to rename its LacrosseBuick LaCrosseThe Buick LaCrosse is a mid-size entry-level luxury sedan produced by General Motors. It replaced the Buick Century and Regal in North America beginning in the 2005 model year.-North America:...
to Allure in Canada, because it was a euphemism for masturbation in QuebecQuebec French lexiconThere are various lexical differences between Quebec French and Metropolitan French / Standard French in France. These are distributed throughout the registers, from slang to formal usage....
. - The SEAT MálagaSEAT MálagaThe SEAT Málaga is a four-door saloon produced by the Spanish automaker SEAT from 1985 to 1992, named after the city of Málaga in Andalucía, southern Spain....
was marketed in Greece as the Seat Gredos, because the word Malaga was considered very similar to Malaka, a common Greek swear word for one who masturbates. - The U.S. fast food chain Taco BellTaco BellTaco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
formerly sold a burritoBurritoA burrito , or taco de harina, is a type of Mexican food. It consists of a wheat flour tortilla wrapped or folded around a filling. The flour tortilla is usually lightly grilled or steamed, to soften it and make it more pliable. In Mexico, refried beans or meat are sometimes the only fillings...
called a chili-cheese burrito. Its name was changed when many people became aware that the original name, chilito, is used as a slang term for a small penis. - The Ford MaverickFord MaverickThe Ford Motor Company has marketed the following models using the Ford Maverick nameplate:* The Ford Maverick , a sport-styled compact car sold in North America and Brazil during the 1970s....
was intended to be marketed in BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
as the Ford PintoFord PintoThe Ford Pinto is a subcompact car produced by the Ford Motor Company for the model years 1971–1980. The car's name derives from the Pinto horse. Initially offered as a two-door sedan, Ford offered "Runabout" hatchback and wagon models the following year, competing in the U.S. market with the AMC...
, but no one in Brazil would identify Pinto as a horse breed, since Pinto is a BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian informal term for “penis”. - In CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Bosnia and MontenegroMontenegroMontenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, NestléNestléNestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
couldn't sell instant coffeeInstant coffeeInstant coffee, also called soluble coffee and coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans. Instant coffee is commercially prepared by either freeze-drying or spray drying, after which it can be rehydrated...
called Kenjara because the name resembles Serbo-CroatianSerbo-CroatianSerbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
vulgar words related to defecation. - The Toyota MR2 sportscar is named MR in France, because a way of pronouncing it, "merdeux", sounds like the word for shitty in French.
- The popular Vicks brand of over-the-counter cough medication was renamed Wick in Germany, to avoid too much a similarity with the German word "wichsen" meaning to wank.
- In IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Korean car company Kia MotorsKia MotorsKia Motors , headquartered in Seoul, is South Korea's second-largest automobile manufacturer, following the Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 1.4 million vehicles in 2010...
adjusted their original pronunciation (ki.a) to sound like "Kaya" in promotional material, since a Hebrew slang pronunciation for "vomit" (קיא) sounds like the original brand name. This decision was later reversed, and now the company uses the normal pronunciation.
Foreign orthography
Foreign letters and diacritical marks (such as the umlautUmlaut (diacritic)
The diaeresis and the umlaut are diacritics that consist of two dots placed over a letter, most commonly a vowel. When that letter is an i or a j, the diacritic replaces the tittle: ï....
) are often used to give a foreign flavor to a brand that does not consist of foreign terms.
- Greek characters (most commonly sigmaSigmaSigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and carries the 'S' sound. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 200. When used at the end of a word, and the word is not all upper case, the final form is used, e.g...
, Σ, for E, but also sometimes deltaDelta (letter)Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 4. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Dalet...
Δ or lambdaLambdaLambda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is related to the Phoenician letter Lamed . Letters in other alphabets that stemmed from lambda include the Roman L and the Cyrillic letter El...
Λ for A or thetaThetaTheta is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth...
Θ for O) are similarly used as in advertising for MY BIG FAT GRΣΣK WEDDINGMy Big Fat Greek WeddingMy Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos , a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White...
, which reads 'My Big Fat Grssk Wedding', along with ABC FamilyABC FamilyABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
's college set series GreekGreek (TV series)Greek is an American comedy-drama television series, which follows students of the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University , located in Ohio, who participate in the school's Greek system...
, which renders their title on-screen as GRΣΣK as the program is centered within the Greek systemFraternities and sororitiesFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
of a fictional Ohio college. This comes out something like grssk. The movie Atlantis: The Lost EmpireAtlantis: The Lost EmpireAtlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Written by Tab Murphy, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn, it is the first science fiction film in the Disney animated features canon and the 41st overall. The film...
spells the title "ΛTLΛNTIS", which reads ltllntis, and even used a large Λ on its posters. This particular type of foreign branding derives from the fact that these letters are easily carved in stone, evoking the culture of Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. Greek letters, lowercase or uppercase, can also be used to invoke a scientific mood, such as the use of a lowercase lambda (λ) for A in the video game Hλlf Life. - Faux CyrillicFaux CyrillicFaux Cyrillic, pseudo-Cyrillic, pseudo-Russian or faux Russian typography is the use of Cyrillic letters in Latin text to evoke the Soviet Union or Russia, regardless of whether the letters are phonetic matches. For example, R and N in RUSSIAN may be replaced by Cyrillic Я and И, giving "ЯUSSIAИ"...
lifts entire Cyrillic characters to add "Яussiaи" (which would actually be pronounced Yaussiai) flavor (a notable example is the videogame TETЯIS, which is written Тетрис in actual Cyrillic). Most commonly the Cyrillic letter Я (ya) is used to represent the Roman R, since the equivalent Cyrillic letter resembles the Roman P. Faux Cyrillic characters are also used to name the movie BoratBoratBorat Sagdiyev is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen...
. In the advert, the Cyrillic word Д (de) appears as an A to name the main characters BORДT (which might be read as 'Bordt' or 'Vordt' depending on whether the 'B' is read as a Roman or Cyrillic character). - The cover of Madonna's Greatest Hits Volume 2GHV2GHV2 is the second greatest hits compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 2001, by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It contains the most popular songs from the 1990s up until 2001. It is the follow-up to the 1990 release, The...
contains the seemingly JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
string モヂジラミミヂ, which is made up of the Japanese characters that share the same keys on a Japanese/English keyboard as the letters M-A-D-O-N-N-A, but do not match pronunciation at all. The real Japanese reading, modzijiramimidzi, is meaningless. The one-key/one-character input method that results in モヂジラミミヂ is no longer popular. Under a more typical present-day configuration, entry of "madonna" might result in まどんあ (madon'a); the correct keystrokes would be "madonnna" (with the triple "n") followed by katakana shift, to produce マドンナ. - The Japanese inspired sushi restaurant YO! SushiYo! SushiYO! Sushi is a British restaurant chain which was started in 1997 and is owned by Quilvest and the YO! Sushi Senior Management team. YO! Sushi specialises in delivering sushi to customers using the Japanese style 'kaiten' conveyor belt method...
uses the brand's typeface that makes the Y look like the katakana letter リ (romaji: ri). This is despite the company being based in London.
- Letters of the Hebrew alphabetHebrew alphabetThe Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
can be used to evoke Jewish culture. - The name of the French soft drink PschittPschittPschitt is a French soda created by Perrier in 1954. The name originates in the transcription in French of the noise made by a Perrier bottle when it is opened. It comes in two flavours, lemon and orange. It is now a product of the Neptune Group .It is one of the oldest French soft drinks....
is merely an onomatopoetic rendition of the sound made when the bottle is opened, but the -sch- and terminal -tt are GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, rather than French, clusters. - A premium-priced ice creamIce creamIce cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
made by a company based in Bronx, New York was dubbed Häagen-DazsHäagen-DazsHäagen-Dazs is a brand of ice cream, established by Jewish-Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York, in 1961. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, New York, on November 15, 1976...
to imply "old world craftsmanship and tradition." Häagen-Dazs has no meaning in any EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an language, although it contains several conventions used in European languages, such as the umlautUmlaut (diacritic)The diaeresis and the umlaut are diacritics that consist of two dots placed over a letter, most commonly a vowel. When that letter is an i or a j, the diacritic replaces the tittle: ï....
. Häagen-Dazs spawned imitators, such as Frusen GlädjéFrusen GlädjéFrusen Glädjé was a company that made ice cream for the U.S. market. It was founded in 1980 by Richard Smith. Although the ice cream was made in the United States of America, it used a quasi-Swedish name and packaging of "Frusen Glädjé" .Erhard Sommer...
(frusen glädje without the acute accent meaning "frozen joy" in SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
), another brand of premium ice cream. Häagen Dazs sued unsuccessfully in 1980 to stop them from using a "Scandinavian marketing theme." - Le Tigre ClothingLe Tigre ClothingLe Tigre is an American brand of apparel designed to rival Lacoste in styling. First offered in 1977, Le Tigre polos sported a leaping tiger in lieu of Lacoste's signature crocodile and Retro Fox's leaping fox. The brand made a comeback in 2003, after being out of production through the 1990s...
, an American brand which adopted a French name, at times went so far as to use an accent over the final "e" in tigre (French for tigerTigerThe tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
), although the French word itself contains no accent. - The fashion for the heavy metal umlautHeavy metal umlautA metal umlaut is a diaeresis that is sometimes used gratuitously or decoratively over letters in the names of hard rock or heavy metal bands—for example those of Mötley Crüe and Motörhead...
(use of umlauts in the names of heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
bands) can also be seen as a form of foreign branding. - The television series Stargate SG-1Stargate SG-1Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
and Stargate AtlantisStargate AtlantisStargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...
are written Stargåte SG-1 and Stargate Atlåntis, respectively, in the marketing material. The letter åÅÅ represents various sounds in several languages. Å is part of the alphabets used for the Alemannic and the Bavarian-Austrian dialects of German...
is mainly known from Swedish language, and it is essentially pronounced "o" and therefore making the series names pronounced as Stargote and Atlontis.
External links
by graphic designer Bruce Campbell- English-language page for Pocari Sweat, from the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company (Wayback Machine archive)
- A report by Ernst & YoungErnst & YoungErnst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
on the declining status of American "chablis" - The Modish Macron, a Language LogLanguage LogLanguage Log is a collaborative language blog maintained by University of Pennsylvania phonetician Mark Liberman.The site is updated daily at the whims of the contributors, and most of the posts are on language use in the media and popular culture. Google search results are frequently used as a...
post about use of the macronMacronA macron, from the Greek , meaning "long", is a diacritic placed above a vowel . It was originally used to mark a long or heavy syllable in Greco-Roman metrics, but now marks a long vowel...
in branding