The unfortunate name of Russia's new Nigerian venture

Posted By James Downie Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - 12:55 PM

In May, FP and our readers enjoyed going through the many, many silly acronyms in use around the world, including PIIGS, STUC, MILF, and MANPADS. But last week's agreement between Nigeria and Russia on a joint gas venture has a name that tops all of those for awkardness:

It probably seemed a good idea at the time. But Russia's attempt to create a joint gas venture with Nigeria is set to become one of the classic branding disasters of all time -- after the new company was named Nigaz.
The venture was agreed last week during a four-day trip by Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev to Africa. The deal between Russia's Gazprom and Nigeria's state oil company was supposed to show off the Kremlin's growing interest in Africa's energy reserves.
Instead, the venture is now likely to be remembered for all the wrong reasons -- as a memorable PR blunder, worse than Chevrolet's Nova, which failed to sell in South America because it translates as "doesn't go" in Spanish[...]
An article in Brand Republic pointed out the obvious: that the name has "rather different connotations" for English-speakers.

Stan Marsh sympathizes.

DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AFP/Getty Images

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EXPLORE:BAD ACRONYMS, AFRICA, EASTERN EUROPE, OIL, RUSSIA

A third helping of alphabet soup

Posted By Joshua Keating Monday, May 4, 2009 - 1:15 PM

More awesomely bad acronyms from FP readers:

Tiago Dias:

May I suggest the Spanish GRAPO (Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre)? It sounds like a fruit (obviously), but also reminds me of Grappa, the Italian hard liquor.

Joe Geni:

I nominate JUSCANZ, pronounced "juice cans", and stands for Japan, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I am not making this up. I'm a reporter at the UN and I've heard it used here repeatedly.

Demian Smith:

MOOTW: Military Operations Other than War

John Carrick, once again:

DFAT, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is pertinent and poetically evocative. Trade commissioners create the surplus to import de fat. Diplomats deploy their skills as they chew de fat.

Jed Odermatt:

I always thought that RAPEX, the EU rapid alert system for all dangerous consumer products, was a name that was not fully thought through.

John Halperin:

The bus system in Kinshasa is aptly named:

Societe de transport urbain du Congo (STUC)

There were several nominations for SLORC, (State Law and Order Restoration Council) as Burma's military regime used to be known. I actually think that's an appropriately unpleasant name for a very unpleasant group of people.

Keep 'em coming. (Let me know if you don't want your name posted on the blog.)

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EXPLORE:BAD ACRONYMS

A second helping of alphabet soup

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, May 1, 2009 - 11:58 AM

In this week's list of the world's worst acronyms, I asked readers to send in nominations for the ones that bug them the most. We already have some great ones:

Lindsay J. Gardner:

MANPADS: man portable air defense system
I should know I work on them daily and have to say the word MANPADS over and over. It’s border-line embarrassing.

Stephen E. Trimboli:

It’s a little dated, but remember the South West African People’s Organization – SWAPO! It always sounded to me like a State Lottery game, a boardwalk amusement, or a bad TV game show.

John Carrick:

CHOGM, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Sounds like a hapless hungry diplomat, dutifully attending yet another bleak reception, chomping on a tough, cold, dry chicken leg and inadvertently crunching the bone …

Kevin Miller:

SAP: the German software company that produces the WAY overpriced business solutions apps. Are you a sap for buying it? I say so.

Lauren Gelfand:

C'mon, what about the MILF [Moro Islamic Liberation Front] in the Philippines?

Send your favorites to fpletters@foreignpolicy.com and I'll keep posting the best ones here.

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EXPLORE:BAD ACRONYMS

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