Hong Kong gin brand’s name is obvious bait and UK alcohol regulators bit, but risqué titles are common in bars and restaurants
- Fok Hing Gin’s name is not particularly clever nor does it confer reverence to Hong Kong traditional culture, but its makers got what they aimed for: publicity
- Hong Kong society is quite conservative, but has any official authority ever spoken out on Ho Lee Fook or G.O.D.’s ‘Delay No More’ slogan?
Oh, for Fok’s sake. The kerfuffle over Hong Kong distiller Fok Hing Gin’s name is a bit ridiculous, and not just for the reason you think.
Indeed, it has all been a storm in a teacup, or rather a shot glass, and the UK alcohol industry’s Independent Complaints Panel gave the label exactly what it aimed for: sensationalist publicity.
The brand name is obvious marketing bait and the Brit regulators fell for it hook, line and sinker. Suckers. In reality, Fok Hing Gin is not particularly clever or funny, nor does it confer reverence to Hong Kong traditional culture of any kind.
I don’t for one second buy their argument that the spirit’s name is a homage to Causeway Bay. The street in question, Fuk Hing Lane, is a tiny back thoroughfare lined with cheap noodle shops and hardware stalls. There is no tradition of beer-brewing, booze-making or even excessive drinking in that back alley.
Let’s just call this what it is: a couple of gin-making blokes thought it’d be a cracker of a gag if their booze had a naughty-sounding name. Fine, a bit juvenile, but no harm, no foul. To their pleasant surprise, in this age of political correctness and incessant trolling, they found a “Karen” to blow up at, to muster a little false indignation and generate a whole lot of attention.
I wonder if the Black Sheep Restaurants group feels a little cheated that Ho Lee Fook, in SoHo, couldn’t rally a protest or boycott of any kind from local morality groups or people desperate to protect this city’s decency standards.
There’s also a small cha chaan teng in Tuen Mun called the Fok Hing Food Shop that should feel very disappointed they’re not also getting international press. The only thing people know them for is their cheap and cheerful vegetarian food.
Double entendres and risqué titles are de rigueur across the food and beverage industry. Have any bars in England been shut down for serving a Sex on the Beach cocktail? How about other drinks like Slippery Nipple, Comfortable Screw or the party shooter indelicately named a B*** Job?
Frankly, I lose a bit of my appetite if I have to order from a menu that includes spotted dick and bangers and mash. If we go further down that road, should the burger chain In-N-Out be scrutinised for obscenity? Does our dirty-minded culture require us to cancel innuendo foods like pulled pork, cream pie, clam chowder or nut butter? I suppose chefs have to be especially careful when they explain how they dry rub their meat now.
Why I loathe list articles that tease readers with empty promises
Lots of Hong Kong friends had a good laugh when French restaurant Dalloyau opened in the city because the name sounds phonetically quite close to the Cantonese for “big butt”. Writing about the place when they first opened, I was tempted to say, “I like Dalloyau and I cannot lie.”
I’ve always felt Hong Kong society to be quite conservative, but ironically it maintains a high degree of laissez faire when it comes to ribald cheekiness. I don’t believe any official authority has ever frowned upon lifestyle shop G.O.D.’s “Delay No More” slogan. Then again, most of them are quite humourless so maybe they just didn’t get the joke. Or perhaps we are a more tolerant and open-minded society than I would believe.
Let me ponder while I open a box of cream-filled Collon snacks and stick my face in it.
