7 comments

  • Leon KennedyLeon Kennedy, almost 9 years ago

    Just curious, but why post it only now on Medium when 3 months ago you (Well, Ahmet) posted this, containing about the same information? https://news.layervault.com/stories/16536-why-geisha-is-now-panda

    4 points
  • Aaron GrandoAaron Grando, almost 9 years ago

    It's weird to use this situation to promote your products.

    4 points
  • Robin RaszkaRobin Raszka, almost 9 years ago

    Again, quite a weird name for such thing, isn't it?

    3 points
  • Eric HuEric Hu, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

    Changing it to Panda doesn't make it THAT much better. Think about it.

    "Hmm people seem offended at my stereotypical and ignorant co-opting of Asian cultures so I gotta do some soul-searching and reflection and change it to...another shallow stereotypical overly obvious indicator of Asia: Pandas"

    If you had called it Panda form the get-go it wouldn't be an issue, but calling it Panda after Geisha looks bad on your part. Giving you major side-eye right now as an Asian person myself.

    Like seriously what is your fascination with Asian culture—no, I can't even call it fascination because these are again, are just shallow signifiers of Asian culture stamped on by Western ignorance. The app itself has nothing to do with Asia.

    I can't imagine what your back up names were.

    1. Gong.ly
    2. Dragon.io
    3. Fu-ManC.hu
    4. MushuApp
    1 point
    • Daniel FoscoDaniel Fosco, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

      Geisha is a strong word that brings a lot of history and embedded prejudice it with, so it was an obvious bad choice, but I see nothing inherently bad about Panda.

      They just tried to keep some kind of connection to the previous name so people would understand it as a rebrand, rather than a new app.

      EDIT:

      The app itself has nothing to do with Asia.

      Read your comment more carefully, and this part made me see your side more clearly. The app is still profiting from a stereotype of your culture, albeit a neutral one this time.

      They could've gone the extra mile and chosen a completely unrelated name, if only for being extra cautious.

      0 points
      • Eric HuEric Hu, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )

        Yes, you are correct in your edit, though also consider this when you wrote : "They just tried to keep some kind of connection to the previous name so people would understand it." It's obvious they meant to do it to maintain a connection to the previous brand and your explanation makes perfect sense—but that's exactly why it hurts. Think of how little connection there actually is when you compare the two. It's on the same continent but it's two entirely different cultures (Japanese and Chinese) which comes across not only as superficial and lazy, but to any Asian person who has had their country grouped with another ("japanese, chinese, they all look the same to me") the superficiality is all too familiar. Just think of the equivalent in a European analogy and how nonsensical that is. It's a half-hearted apology. Panda itself is not inherently wrong, but to jump from Panda after Geisha draws a certain amount of suspicion. It's the paper trail.

        0 points