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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOutrage after Aloha Poke Co tells Hawaiians to stop using 'Aloha' in business names
Chicago-based poke chain sent cease-and-desist letters to a native Hawaiian business in Anchorage, Alaska, and other shops around the country
Hawaii residents are calling out a Chicago-based poke chain after it tried to stop other US restaurants selling the trendy sushi bowls from using Aloha in their business names, accusing the company of cultural appropriation.
In May, lawyers for Aloha Poke Co, sent cease-and-desist letters to a native Hawaiian family business in Anchorage, Alaska, ordering it to stop using Aloha or Aloha Poke in its name, Aloha Poke Stop. Aloha Poke Co had done the same to other shops around the country, including at least one in Hawaii, where poke originated.
Over the weekend, the Anchorage business announced that it had been bullied into changing its name, setting off a firestorm in the Hawaiian community. The business has since been pummeled with bad Yelp reviews and messages on social media, accusing it of bullying native Hawaiians out of using their own language.
Aloha literally means both face to face and breath of life, according to Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, a Hawaii historian. It is a Native Hawaiian word used around the islands in place of hello and goodbye. But the word is also an important cultural concept for the islands culture, and its generally peaceful, kind and welcoming way of life.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/31/aloha-poke-co-cease-and-desist-letter-hawaiians-aloha
dalton99a
(81,084 posts)DFW
(54,057 posts)Other than running up thousands of billable hours, I don't what good will come from forbidding Hawaiians to use "Aloha."
They might as well try to forbid French restaurants from using "Bon" or "gourmet" and Italian establishments from using "buono" or "saluti."
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)I'm guessing in both cases, the PR people would have warned them off, but the promises of "saved" future $$ by these unethical sharks seems to always wins out.
Nonhlanhla
(2,074 posts)South African business woman Anique Theron registered the name "rooibos" in the US for $40, then subsequently handed it over to her American business partner, who then wanted to forbid other South African companies to use the name "rooibos" for their products in the US. Rooibos tea is a unique (and delicious) tea indigenous to South Africa, and her claim was ridiculous, since she was not first person to make products from rooibos tea, nor did she have any rights to the word, which is of long usage. After a long court battle, the American partner withdrew the claim to the name.
Ridiculous.