One of the great things about living in a foreign country is the strange things you find on a daily basis. Crazy English, unusual flavors, makeshift ingenuity, etc. Taiwan has an abundance of such things. Take for example this package of hard candy I found in a 7-Eleven the other day. Granted, the product has been imported from Japan, but it still makes one raise an eyebrow.I can understand the "Banana Yogurt", "Mango & Apple", and the "Pink Lemonade". But "Blood Orange Soda"? C'mon!!! As the package states, "Colorful", yes. "Lovely"? Not as much. Then there's "Ume & Honey". I didn't know what this was till I learned that Ume is a Japanese apricot. And yes, I know that the "Blood Orange" is a species of orange that has "blood colored" flesh. It still looks weird written on a candy package. I'd give it a "Fail" in terms of product marketing. Most Westerners would probably not know what a blood orange is, and I'd think "blood" would be one of the last words you'd want to use to sell a pack of candy.
What "China Blue" is, I have no idea. Sounds like it could be anything, from the name of a song, to a film about blue jean sweatshops in China (which it actually is, if you do a quick Google search).
By the way, I'm sucking on the Blood Orange candy as I write this, Tastes "orangie". Not detecting any blood, though.
File this one under "Things That Make You Go 'Huh?'."
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2 comments:
Blood oranges are a type of orange!
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBlood_orange&ei=wOYfSKCFOILQigGc4cG1Dg&usg=AFQjCNFiDFGZIBeqUfZnQm86T7tApvXvXw&sig2=CrsChhwSEGzjx4EaxxFcAg
Scott Grandi
Yes, I realize that, as I gave the same link in my post. My point was to say that if you're trying to sell tasty candy, it may be better to just say "Orange Flavor" than to specify it as "Blood Orange", which just makes some people do a double-take, as I did (but then again, maybe that's their goal).
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