I love words and am fascinated by brands, so an article about Chinese companies trying to attract a new aspirational class by labeling their products with Western-ish names, some quite tasteless or silly, is right up my alley. From Dan Levin of the New York Times:

“BEIJING — Chrisdien Deny, a retail chain with more than 500 locations across China, sells belts, shoes and clothing with an ‘Italian style’ — and a logo with the same font as Christian Dior’s.

Helen Keller, named for the deaf-blind American humanitarian, offers trendy sunglasses and classic spectacles at over 80 stores, with the motto ‘you see the world, the world sees you.’

Frognie Zila, a clothing brand sold in 120 stores in China, boasts that its ‘international’ selection is ‘one of the first choices of successful politicians and businessmen’ and features pictures on its website of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Venetian canals.

Eager to glaze their products with the sheen of international sophistication, many homegrown retail brands have hit upon a similar formula: Choose a non-Chinese name that gives the impression of being foreign.

‘You could call it fawning on foreign powers,’ said Cheng Wei, 37, who was recently at a Beijing mall buying winter clothes at Chocoolate, a Hong Kong casual wear outlet, where Chinese characters were absent from all but one store logo.”