Remember the AYDS diet?
It was a diet suppressant candy that went the way of the poodle skirt when AIDS came along in the 1980s.
Tata Motors in India is renaming on of its cars. From the Guardian:
The Indian carmaker Tata Motors has decided to change the name of its heavily promoted new car, the Zica, to avoid association with alarm about the spread of the Zika virus.
Tata announced it would choose a new name for the car a day after the World Health Organisation declared Zika a global emergency. Tata has not yet revealed what the name will be.
The change comes too late for the launch of the car at the Auto Expo in New Delhi on Wednesday, where it will still carry the Zica label. Tata had chosen the name as an abbreviation of “zippy car”.
But the explosive spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, posed an awkward homophone problem for Tata’s marketing team. The scale of the spread of the Zika virus only became apparent after Tata launched a big marketing campaign for the Zica, including adverts featuring footage of footballer Lionel Messi.
In a statement announcing the rebranding, Tata said: “Empathising with the hardships being caused by the recent Zika virus outbreak across many countries, Tata Motors, as a socially responsible company, has decided to rebrand the car.”I suggest the Mosquito.
Is it just me, but doesn't Tata make you giggle?
Tata makes Jaguars. There's also the slogan for breast cancer awareness, Save The Tatas. I recall seeing a flyer for a talk by a Korean named Bum Suk Lee. How many English words sound funny to other-language speakers? (I got over it.)
ReplyDeleteIn this case, Zika likely will we used in this context in all languages, but you are correct. Tata is a huge company in India, similar to LG in Korea
Delete"Is it just me, but doesn't Tata make you giggle?"
ReplyDeleteI'll let you know. I just need to get a feel for it.
Keep the name. Women still wear bikinis in spite of the stigma. People get vehicles from General Motors, gas from Standard Oil, and a host of other strange names. As a speaker I know once said, if what I have to say is worth hearing, this leasure suit won't take away from the message. But if what I have to say is not, a Suit from Hart Schaefer and Marks won't save me.
ReplyDeleteAll I can think of is An Officer and a Gentleman, in which David Kieth says to Richard Gere "Did you see that bodacious set of ta-tas?"
ReplyDelete