Have you heard the advert?
Korean car manufactures Hyundai have a new campaign, teaching thick Brits how to say ‘Hyundai’.
Apparently, it’s not ‘Hi-un-day’ it’s ‘Hyun-day’.
Followed by the patronising voice-over adding ‘…by the way.’
Regular readers may be wondering why I’ve ended up in a funk about something which is so far out of my control that I shouldn’t give it a second thought, never mind a whole newsletter.
Well, there is a point.
We’re all different.
Americans can’t pronounce ‘tomato’ or ‘Edinburgh’.
Benedict Cumberbatch can’t enunciate ‘penguin’
And no one outside of the UK can say ‘Worcestershire Sauce’ without going cross-eyed and spitting.
And isn’t it joyful?
I’m sure the brand agency at Hyundai believes by the end of their campaign us Brits will be storming showrooms and asking to see the new ‘Hyun-day’.
But we won’t.
Change what you can – embrace what you can’t.
As always, I’d love to know your thoughts below.
Be Brilliant!
comments
add comment
It got you talking and thinking about their ad.
Isn’t that a win?
I thought it was “Hi and die”.
I love the way my Scottish colleagues pronounce Peugeot and hate the way Americans try to pronounce Jaguar. If Sir William Lyons could live with it then perhaps this lot should 🙂
I grew up when the TV was full of adverts for Nestles Milky Bar before it became ‘Nest-Lay’!!
It has been my personal observation that in South Korea, people go all in on whatever they are doing, the food was soo good, soo abundant, ladies, so pretty, drivers, so aggressive (ain’t nothing wrong with enjoying the journey)..but back to Hyundai, I have a 2015 Sonata Sport, and the motor recently seized…replaced, free of charge. Why whole fiasco happened, there is a little voice that offers a mixture of pride and sabotage, the auto industry isn’t exactly the fairest industry in the world…that my car is a nice place to be, it is, way outside my budget, not that I had any say in that…but every single person that has been a passenger will say, the first ride, this is a nice car…mine is a 2015, it had 159000 kms when I got it, now 165500, the interior is mint, and this, I hear, is uncommon. I remember discovering that the trunk opens when you stand behind it loaded with groceries, didn’t know it did that. Did notice that all the heated seats and steering wheel work just fine, the glass roof is cool too. The final gearing at the differential is only 2.88, I guess they take full advantage that they are also the largest producer of high strength steel. How that car accelerates is unlike any car I’ve had before. You might get a wee chirp, but no crazy wheelspin, yet it gets moving quickly, that is going to be harder on the bottom end of the engine… that it is a design flaw, I think it was how the crank is cut…it may have been one of those things they didn’t know they didn’t know…it has certainly cost them enough… the car is nice and wide inside, with incredible legroom in the back….I don’t have the longest legs in the world, but still..it feels lighter than it is, due to that high strength steel, accidentally drive up on the curb, I mean when you are going through the drive in late at night and a bit tired, bump, a little sideways, and then off the curb, very little drama. The other thing it did, that no other car ever has…as soon as the dealer opened the door, it is pearl white in color, but black interior, and as soon as I saw inside, everything was okay, it’s not any one thing, it just feel right, putting that 2014 Jetta I had, with it’s drab grey interior to shame..it offered me the inclination to feel better about myself…and I accepted this. That interior was the outcome of asking what the buyers wanted, and giving it to them.
Almost exactly what I was thinking when I first saw the ad … and your comments about the way different nationalities pronounce words, I would add to that : Ask a Frenchman to pronounce Middlesbrough!
Write that boooooooooook!
I record some programmes to watch later. The other day I watched a pre-recorded program from over a year ago. It was punctuated by adverts one of which was from Hyundai. Guess how they pronounced their company? Hy-un-day 🤣🤣🤣
Totally agree, it would be so boring if we all spoke exactly the same. Diversity in everything makes the world a much more interesting place.
It’s almost as bad as all the PC adverts with ‘modern family’ stereotypes – but don’t get me started. You are absolutely right, I’ll not be buying a Hiundi, it’s a kier for me
That advert is so annoying and has totally put me off the brand. As a non-Brit I am very proud to be able to enunciate Worcestershire Sauce (and Edinburgh) perfectly … how is your “rødgrød med fløde” coming along 😉
I worked for BMW for over 16 years, which stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, AG. – However the German pronunciation of W is VAE, therefore in Germany it is known as BMV in pronunciation. Never once was i corrected by a German, also a very proud and committed nation to commercial excellence – Success is earned, through innovation, commitment and principles of design – i Guess, don’t let the little things sweat you.
I worked with Toyota for 6 years, who were called Toyoda, which took 10 brush strokes to write, while Toyota took 8 brush strokes. 8 was also a lucky number hence Toyota was the brand name, simple. Philosophy of success to Toyota ‘Kaizen’ continuous improvement.
Hyundai, have created a marketing talking point, which will in some way grow their awareness, not possibly their sales, sometimes a thumb in the eye is not good practice.
While I think the derogatory stereotyping of Brits as ‘thick’ is rude and unacceptable, I actually find the pronunciation lesson useful and interesting! While our differences should be embraced, we should equally be open to learning other languages, customs and cultures. Brits are not generally thick, but we are sheltered from multi-lingualism as this is not a norm in our country. We take it for granted that ‘everyone learns English’ (not true) and have become a little culturally lazy when it comes to feeling the need to learn foreign languages.
Completely agree so boring and condescending! I am sure they had a series of adverts years ago when they first came to the UK telling us then it was Hi-in-day at that point! I will not be buying one of these ever, as it comes across as quite insulting to the public.
I remember the old advert, “hi-tech, hi-spec Hyundai (hi-oon-die). So when this new ad appeared, I wondered why. I concluded that the old ad was created with little respect for the Korean language and the new one does. I still prefer the old one! But neither have persuaded me to buy a Hyundai!