Coke makes a snafu

[Thomas Promise]

The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-la", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le", translating into "happiness in the mouth."

[Randy W]

True enough (I've heard this from other sources as well), but the present day name IS 可口可乐 - kekou kele.

 

可口 (kekou), together as a single word, means tasty; palatable

 

http://csymbol.com/chinese/chinese_branding.html

 

When you want a Coke, ask for kele (not Kole) - this can refer to Pepsi also. Pepsi Cola is 百事可乐 -Baishi Kele

 

Some other creative logos are Samsung - 三星 (Sanxing or Three Stars)

 

Sansui - 山水 (Shanshui or Mountain Water)

[Randy W]

This story from Coke tells about the earlier attempts and agrees with the Ko-kou Ko le phoneticization. But if you put it through any of the modern conversions to pinyin 可 is ke.

 

http://www.coca-colaconversations.com/my_weblog/2008/03/bite-the-wax-ta.html

 

While doing the research for four suitable characters, the employees found that a number of shopkeepers had also been looking for Chinese equivalents for Coca-Cola, but with strange results. Some had made signs that were absurd, adopting any group of characters that sounded remotely like "Coca-Cola" -- without giving a thought to the meaning of the characters used. One of these homemade signs sounded like “Coca-Cola” when pronounced, but the meaning of the characters came out something like “female horse fastened with wax” and another meant “bite the wax tadpole.” That’s where the myth comes in! So the strange translation was in China, but not because of The Coca-Cola Company!

[dnoblett]

Yep, that is a classic West to East brand name story..

 

I have seen Sansui - 山水 before, we buy a soy milk product at the local Asia-Food store called Vitasoy that has that name on it.

 

Seems to use "vitasoy" on label which is another brand name.

 

Here is tofu from the same company that we get soy milk from.

 

http://blog.dwnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/tupian2.jpg

[Randy W]

Interesting - Sansui Electronics (the company I was referring to) can (and does) use the same characters in both Japan and China - 山水 is Sansui in Japanese and Shanshui in Chinese

 

http://www.sansui.us/History.htm

 

The name “Sansui” means “Mountain and Water.” The implicit appreciation of “Sansui” goes back more than thousand years to the ancient China. That was black ink drawings which depict nature, such as trees, rocks, and streams.

A Japanese Zen monk named Sesshu who was eager to learn this technique went to China that was in Ming dynasty period. After several years of visit, he came back to Japan and developed his own version of “Sansui” drawing. Sesshu tried to mix his Zen philosophy into the simplicity of “Sansui” drawing. He passed away at the age of 83 in 1503 leaving many master pieces and left fundamental influences on Japanese culture. The meaning of strength and simplicity in black and white is far beyond the level of just drawing techniques. Almost all ancient Japanese culture has been somehow influenced by this philosophy.

When the founders of the transformer company named their company as Sansui, they must have thought about the philosophy of “Sansui” drawings, and its fundamental meanings; strength and simplicity of black ink drawing on white paper for the purpose of depicting nature mixing with value of your life.

[dnoblett]

Interesting related articles:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/world/asia/picking-brand-names-in-china-is-a-business-itself.html?pagewanted=all

 

https://chinesepod.com/blog/%22To+Die+Foolishly%22%3A+Choosing+a+Chinese+Brand+Name+%5B+ChinesePod+Weekly+%5D/987