A couple of weeks back I mentioned the fact that whilst Social Text’s new product sounded very interesting, living in Ireland there was no way you could go into the pub and tell people you were just writing on your Miki.
It seems more traditional products are facing similar Irish naming problems. Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s have a new ice cream flavour out in the US called “Black and Tan”.
Although this is another exclusively Irish issue, and therefore unknown outside our rain-swept island, the term Black and Tan often has some negative historical references. [This is something I always found amusing in the US where the black and tan drink includes Guinness].
You can’t really blame Unilever, particularly as the mixed drink is widely consumed throughout the US. I’m not sure Irish consumers are that important either. What is very interesting is that this product is only available in the US, but it shows how the Interweb again creates potential issues which would have previously never arisen.
More from the Guardian.
Murphy's Law 