Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka unintentionally left international Twitter divided, with the launch of her new venture. The 24-year-old Grand Slam Champion’s latest venture has raised several eyebrows and garnered major flak in Africa, as the company name has a vulgar meaning in Swahili.
She partnered with Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James to launch a new media venture called ‘Hana Kuma.’ She said they aim to produce TV shows, branded content, and documentaries.
The sporting Superstar stated that the term Hana Kuma means “flower bear” in Japanese.
Naomi Osaka’s new venture causes a Twitter uproar
What can be seen as a significant marketing blunder has been trending on Twitter. In Swahili, Hana Kuma means “woman without av * gin *.”
The name controversy started trending in various African countries, with fans requesting her to change the name of the venture. Many African users claim that the research team of the brand must be held accountable for not being respectful of global cultures.
Kenya’s most popular news outlet, Citizen TV, tweeted that Kenyans are “losing their heads” over this name.
Ugandan journalist Daniel Kibet tweeted:
Another fuming user tweeted:
Another tweet displayed concern for the brand image:
Another user stated that Osaka should have researched extensively before choosing a name for her venture:
Swahili is a sub-Saharan language that over 200 million speakers speak. UNESCO has declared July 7 as the World Day for the Swahili language.
Though Osaka has not made a public statement regarding the controversy, she shared a cryptic post on Twitter on Wednesday night saying:
“Prayers for all my overthinkers. We are going through it. ”
prayers for all my overthinkers. We are going through it
Naomi Osaka’s company is not the first to make such a blunder
Naomi Osaka’s venture is not the first to make such a lost-in-translation error.
The Coors Brewing Company put out the slogan “Turn it loose,” which in Spanish means, “Suffer from diarrhea.” When Coca-Cola entered China, the company’s name was rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la, which locally meant “Bite the wax tadpole.”
In Taiwan, Pepsi’s slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” came out as “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.”
More about Naomi Osaka’s new venture Hana Kuma
Osaka expressed her intentions for Hana Kuma to flourish as a leading Hollywood media firm that creates TV episodes, documentaries, and branded content in an interview with The Times. SpringHill, a marketing business that James co-founded, and this company were created together.
According to Osaka, the business would prioritize diverse storytelling. She said, in an interview with The Times:
“What excites me is being able to inspire people and tell new stories, particularly ones that I would have wanted to see when I was a kid,” she stated. “I always wanted to kind of see someone like me.”
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The tennis professional earned a stunning $ 57 million last year, making her the highest-paid female sportsperson in the world. The shrewd player signed lucrative relationships with companies like Nike and Louis Vuitton, which account for a large portion of Osaka’s revenue.
The former World No. 1 confirmed this week that an Achilles issue will prevent her from competing in the 2018 Wimbledon competition.
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