HK gin brand Fok Hing Gin told to change 'offensive' name in UK, offers snarky promo deal instead

Hong Kong gin brand Fok Hing Gin has been ordered by the British drinks industry watchdog to change its name as a member of the public in UK complained that the name of the brand was offensive. In response to the complaint, the brand rolled out discounts for customers in the UK. Fok Hing Gin, produced by Incognito Group, was inspected by trade body in the UK Portman Group, which consists of alcoholic beverage producers and brewers, after a licensing officer filed a complaint. The complaint stated that the name of the product (originally Fuk Hing Gin) is "clearly intended to shock and be pronounced as an offensive term."

In an announcement of Portman Group, the complainant said, "Personally I wouldn’t want to see this product on family supermarket shelves or being promoted in an environment where children have access – such as most social media sites."

The complainant added, "So despite claims this is a Hong Kong language term meaning good luck – it’s obvious the intention is to shock and offend those who find swearing undesirable and unacceptable."

The complaint was made in relation to its rule, which states that a drink’s name, its packaging and any promotional material or activity should not cause serious or widespread offence.

In response to the complaint, Incognito Group explained the history of the name of the product and stated that it was a gin brand owned and operated by a Hong Kong domiciled company. The company disagreed with the complainant’s interpretation of its name as a reference to offensive language and clarified that "Fok Hing Gin" was an English romanisation of traditional Chinese, which meant fortune and prosper.

The company added that it paid homage to Fuk Hing Lane, a street located in Causeway Bay ,Hong Kong and explained that the name had been changed from ‘Fuk’ to ‘Fok’ to differentiate it from offensive language used in Western culture.

Incognito Group also said that a personal interpretation of its brand name should not limit the representation and celebration that it aimed to promote. The company stated that consumers should have free will to engage and purchase the brand based on individual assessment and interpretation of the name.

In addition, Fok Hing Gin published a post on its Facebook on 12 November. It read, "A letter to the Karen that tried to cancel us because she got offended by a few romanised Chinese words and a street name…and then took time out of her day to file a report. Here’s a discount code for your efforts: “FOKHINGKARENS” for 25% off - UK store only, until this Sunday."

The post added, 

PS Thank you, you've helped us go viral and generated more press and traffic we could ever imagine - more effective than a PR agency! Might we suggest a new hobby?

Closer to the region, in Malaysia, TIMAH Whisky was recently called out by the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) called on the government to ban the Malaysian-made whisky. The brand name "Timah" was called out for insulting the Muslim community as it resembles a Malay and Muslim name shortened from the name, "Fatimah". CAP said it could not understand "how such a brand name and image are allowed in the first place", which in his opinion, would trigger an uproar among the people, said the article. 

TIMAH has responded to the allegations, clarifying that there has been some misinformation circulating online. According to TIMAH, the name is a local meaning for the word, "tin". In fact, the name of TIMAH Whisky harks back to the tin mining era during British Malaya. The man pictured on the bottle is "Captain Speedy", one of the men who introduced the whisky culture back then. TIMAH has also addressed this issue saying that it was never their intention to stir controversy with its name.