Almarai launches Haboor - gets lost in translation

Brands or products which do not make it across different languages are a dime a dozen - Mazda Laputa? Mitsubishi Pajero? (try Spanish for both) Honda Fitta? (try Swedish/Danish/Norwegian) Bing? (try Chinese) and the list goes on endlessly. Sometimes one can be forgiven - Coca-Cola means "bite the wax tadpole" - so eventually the drink giant opted for Kě kǒu kě lè which means "delicious, enjoyable" or "happiness in the mouth". Close enough. So yes, sometimes names of companies or products do not exactly translate well in other languages, cultures.

Well, Kylie Jenner changed her son's name from "Wolf" at birth to "Aire" - which is supposed to be Hebrew for "lion of God", apparently it is not - but what it does mean is "male organ in Arabic slang". But that's Kylie Jenner, she is American, non-Arabic speaking, and well with cousins such as "Psalm" "Chicago" "Saint" - and that's just from half-sister Kim - she is forgiven for trying hard (pardon the pun) to get a name that sands out from the crowd.

Which brings us to Almarai. According to Wikipedia, "Almarai Company is a Saudi multinational dairy company listed on the Tadawul stock exchange. It specializes in food and beverage manufacturing, including distribution. The company's main offices are located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." In other words, they speak Arabic, they are immersed in Arab culture, and they are distributed in Lebanon via major supermarkets.

Kind note, what Aire is to grown up men, haboor is the equivalent to small children.

Suffice to say they did not make enough research for sure, the comments on their social media are enough reflection of that (here). Basically, from the funny, to the witty, to the bewildered, everyone is trying their own version of the joke.

And seriously if Almarai claims to be as Arab as it is, maybe, just maybe they could have consulted different Arabic-speaking cultures before jumping on this. Kylie Jenner is not a reliable consultant in that case.

Kylie Jenner, her son, and branding

Aire Scott - Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

"Nike" -well, when the brand really started getting momentum in the market in Lebanon in the 80s people would always eyeroll. In case you don't know it, nike is slang for "screw" - you know, the sexual act not the tool (sorry, no pun). Siri means penis in Georgian and Lumia is slang for prostitute in Spanish and the list goes on. 

Which brings us to Kylie Jenner and her son (from rapper Travis Scott), when the baby arrived it was called "Wolf" - except that the parents decided it was not a fitting name for the boy. After a long debacle the parents decided the boy's name - and it was revealed with his face only very lately - is "Aire". The issue? 

If Nike was not enough, Nike Air was a literal double whammy. "Nike" - I already explained what it was, "Air" well this is what you do the nike with... So the poor boy - and I mean the Jenner/Scott offspring - has a very strange name in Arabic. Not to pick on the boy or harass him or what not but seriously....

My heart goes to all the Arabic news anchors who had to talk about former prime minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault. Because in slang his family name literally means "his tool".

All this reminds me of French author Marcel Pagnol - in his lovely "la gloire de mon pere" (my father's glory) - he tells the story of how his aunt Rose forced her husband to be called "Jules" rather than his original name "Thomas" because she heard that in the countryside people called Thomas their chamber pot, not knowing that Jules is an even more widely adopted euphemism for the same object.

So if Wolf did not work, and Aire did not, I wonder what the boy's third iteration will be.