What Is It? – Fören Branz
May 29th, 2009 by timbotron
Foreign branding is the art of making a brand name sound attractively foreign.
The formula for making an ice cream/frozen yogurt name:
• Two words.
• First word two syllables, second word one syllable.
• Have at least one Z or S.
• The first word should end in N.
• Put a diaeresis ön top of ëvery third vöwel.
Häagen Dazs – An American ice cream company, founded in the Bronx in 1961. Neither word exists in any Scandinavian or Northern European language.
Frusen Glädjé – An American ice cream company, founded in 1980. Unsuccessfully sued by Häagen Dazs in 1981 for “stealing their fake Scandinavian idea.” Surprisingly, “frusen glädje” (without the accent) actually means “frozen joy” in Swedish.
Yogen Früz – An American frozen yogurt franchise founded in 1986. Neither the word “yogen” nor “früz” exists in any Scandinavian or Northern European language.
Freshëns – A frozen yogurt and smoothie franchise based in Atlanta, Georgia. Also known as “Yogurt Ventures U.S.A., Inc.” The word does mean “fresh” or “freshen” in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, but still sounds like a Scandinavian feminine hygiene product.
Lïnk:
A nice Clicknation article on foreign branding by Bruce Campbell.
Tötali Reläted:
The Blogadilla Swedish Furniture Name Generator
May 29th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I totally want to eat some Yogen Früz right now.
March 27th, 2010 at 3:03 am
I loved the post. There’s just one thing I can’t stop myself from saying:
That’s an umlaut, not a diaeresis.
I know, I know. Never post after beer. Sorry.