what’s in a name?
One of the new challenges of this project is selecting a name for the honey, a product of 4 cooperatives, that we can trademark in Mexico. Because the producers are Maya and the product is one the Maya in general identify closely with, not to mention most people in Yucatán, one of the largest honey producers in the world, we’re determined to select an appropriate Maya name to work with the taglines of “Maya Miel 100% Yucatán Honey”. So, I’ve been going back and forth to visit the IMPI (Mexican Intellectual Property Institute). I not only learn what can and cannot be trademarked, but that almost every Maya word combination with honey, land, and bee is already trademarked in some way. So, we’re in the process of developing a long list of names that work in 3 languages (English, Spanish, Maya) that are all conceptually sound. We must remember the lessons of the “NOVA” car . No Va = “won’t go” in Spanish and was a dreadful failure for a car name. As well as the recent “Got Milk” which was somehow translated to “Tiene Leche” = “are you lactating,” instead of “Hay Leche” meaning “Is there milk?”. So, our point is to avoid this too. Especially because several English words are pretty funny in Maya. Wish = Pee, Kiis = fart, well, i can’t remember them all.
