Fukushima branding choice world class Fukuppy
Gwynn Guilford of QZ.com brings our attention to a new mascot developed by Fukushima Industries, makers of major appliances.
What’s Fukuppy’s purpose? Ask him! “I fly around on my awesome wings, patrolling supermarket showcases and kitchen refrigerators,” explains Fukuppy on Fukushima Industries’ site (translation from RocketNews24). ”I can talk to vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish and can check on their health!”
Though Fukuppy does claim to be a “bit of a klutz,” his name probably doesn’t have anything to do with what it sounds like pronounced in English. For one, his name is actually pronounced “foo-koo-pee.”
But among English-speakers, Fukuppy probably seems like it would be a fitting name for a Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant mascot. The chief cause of the 2011 meltdown was human error, not the tsunami/earthquake, found a report commissioned by the Japanese government. In July, the head of Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority admitted that the plant has been contaminating the ocean for two years since he and his staff have been unable to pinpoint the leak’s origin. As a result, as many as 80,000 people could get cancer, two nuclear experts told the Georgia Straight, a Canadian news weekly.
SOURCE: http://qz.com/135179/fukushima-industries-just-made-a-very-unfortunate-branding-choice/
For the Record: Unlike TEPCO, Fukuppy hasn't hurt anyone.