Have you ever noticed when travelling abroad, your favourite brands aren’t so similar? Their name might be different, yet their logo the same, or completely different altogether. Bizarre right? And it can throw you right off kilter, especially when hunting for some real home comforts!
But why? It is to confuse us all? After experiencing Asia, and the turn of some very famous brands different packaging and appearance, I started to look deeper into this mystery!
Online label company, https://www.data-label.co.uk/, has researched a variety of popular brands around the world, finding out which of our favourites use different names and even logos in other countries.
It might be trickier to get hold of your favourite cereal than you think around the world: Coco Pops by any other name might taste as sweet, but you’ll need to search for Cocoa Krispies on the supermarket shelves in the US, Choco Krispis in South America, and Choco Krispies across Europe. If you wanted a Burger King while visiting Australia, or fancied a KFC in Canada, good luck! You’d struggle to find and get directions to them when they’re known as Hungry Jack’s and PFK respectively.
Wall’s Ice Cream is perhaps the biggest culprit for the largest number of different brands names around the world, however their logo is generally recognisable everywhere with its swirling heart design, in a bold red and white colour scheme.
The reasoning behind brands having different names and logos in different countries is usually due to one of the following reasons:
- Language – for example, Kentucky Fried Chicken is known by PFK in Canada’s French speaking Quebec region due to local laws dictating that the restaurant takes the initials of the French name, Poulet Frit Kentucky.
- Existing brands and trademarks – when Burger King expanded into Australia, it quickly became apparent that their iconic name was already being used. As a result, Hungry Jack’s was named after the Australian franchisee, Jack Cowin – a name they already held trademarks for.
- Translation issues – the Chevrolet Nova might have sounded like a good idea in English, but to those who understood Spanish, the translation of “no va” as “doesn’t go” isn’t the best option for a new car.
- Previous connotations – across Europe, Diet Coke is known as Coca-Cola Light as the word “light” is associated more with lower-calorie items than “diet” is in these areas.
If I’m honest, it’s nice to actually know why in some countries brands can appear completely different from your home nation.
Have you ever wondered why brands look different abroad?
Any that aren’t on the list?
Start some natter in the comment section below!
Charlotte x
