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wetbenang
at
Monday, June 05, 2006
WHAT'S IN THE NAME, YOU SAY?
Call me ignorant, but I have just come across a series of electronic display products (stuff like plasma screen) manufactured locally and marketed under the brand name of MAL. It must have been around for a while. I guess the name was chosen by the brains behind it to reflect the country origin of the products, Malaysia.
In a way, I suppose I should feel proud that there are a lot of locally manufactured consumer products making their way to the export markets, brands like Elba, Khind, MEC, Pensonic etc. Some of these brands are positioning themselves as global brands (Khind's tagline is "A World Brand").
So, what is my problem, you ask. No, no problem. Not really. I have faith in these brands. I used to own a locally made cordless iron. It lasted more than four years until I dropped it too many times. Now I don't use it although it still functions. All three of my electrical fans are also local. Some of my other products carry foreign names, but are manufactured locally.
Jadi, apa dia? What is it, then? Well, I have an issue with the brand name MAL. "Mal" in French means "bad", or "not good", or "sick", or "evil" or "harm", or "wrong", or "pain". You get the picture. When a French person asks me how I am, I might say, "pas mal" (not bad), or "j'ai mal à la tête" (I have a headache).
In English, "mal" is a prefix meaning "bad" or "wrongful", as in "maltreatmeant" or "malfunction". Hardly something you'd want to associate with your brand, isn't it?
But then again, may be the brains behind MAL branded their products as such to prove a point. OK, let our products carry a brand name that means "bad", which could in itself attract customers, and when they buy and try out, they would discover that our products are in fact "good" and then they come back for more? Erm, now it is I who sound mal.
Other Malaysians butcher their products or brands using the French language in other ways. For example, the French preposition "de" has been misused and abused for as long as I could remember. You'd come across "De Bicycle Shoppe", or "De Village Resort", or its variation of "D'Village Resort", and a lot more. My all-time favourite is "Doris de Florist". I swear.
In French, "de" does not mean "the". Instead, it means "of" or "from". As in, le toit de la maison (the roof of the house), or il vient de Kuala Lumpur (he comes from Kuala Lumpur). It is also used to charaterise or measure something, as in un bébé de 10 mois (a 10-month-old baby), or 12 mois de travail (12 months' work). Also in questions or negative phrases, like, a-t-il de pommes? (does he have any apples?), or il n'a pas de pommes (he doesn't have any apples). Eh, I'm giving French lessons now, huh?
No, the point is, we should not embarass ourselves unnecessarily. Check first before we decide to come up with fancy names. The same goes for the authorities that approve the registration of these names. Jangan main OK aje.
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Doris de Florist? That's rich....
Anonymous said...
5:43 PM
that reminds me abt an upmarket condo around KLCC that nearly named themselves, started with D'******, huh! :p
and why did you dropped your iron too many times? hehehe, hardly hear anyone dropped their irons that much :)
btw, they seriously have to do something with their brand name - MAL... c'mon, first thing that would come up in your mind would be "electrical product = mal = malfunction??!", duh!
Anonymous said...
2:38 PM
Why did I drop my iron too many times? Well, it's cordless, so limp-wristed me sometimes got careless lorr.
This MAL thing, I tell you, so susah already. I mean, our country is also named as such that it connotes malaise and other feelings yang sewaktu dengannya...
wetbenang said...
1:49 PM