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Comment by jefftk | Hacker News Reader

A picture of the Matterhorn doesn't seem like a lie to me? I wouldn't normally expect that to be an indication that something was made in the country containing that peak.

There's also a thing where many regional names are used as descriptions of foods: I don't expect Neapolitan ice cream to be made in Naples, I just expect the Strawberry/Chocolate/Vanilla pattern. In general I think this tends to be a lot more controversial in Europe, with specific DPO categorizations, then in the US, where the standard is a lot more literal (ex: Americans interpret "Champagne" to be a claim about the style, while Europeans interpret it to additionally include where the product was made).

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> I wouldn't normally expect that to be an indication that something was made in the country containing that peak.

You're probably American (where presumably these laws won't be applicable anyway, though I have no idea concerning US-Swiss Trade agreements). Europeans have been conditioned at least to some degree to associate chocolate with cows running around pristine alpine pastures to give the milk that makes Swiss chocolate so unique.

You're correct that European geographic origin tends to be more of an issue in Europe than the US. Reason being: European law does not automatically apply in the US. Otoh, to call something "Tennessee Whiskey" it must have seen Tennessee at least briefly.

I have to contradict your claim that the American interpretation is more "literal" though. "Champagne" is _literally_ the name of a region in France were a type of sparkling wine was invented.

> I have to contradict your claim that the American interpretation is more "literal" though.

Maybe not the best phrasing, sorry! But I do think there's a difference here. When Americans buy "Colby" cheese we don't expect it to be from Colby WI, and we don't expect "Buffalo sauce" to be from Buffalo NY. Those regional names have become part of the name of the food. On the other hand, in "Tennessee Whiskey", "Wisconsin Cheddar", or "New Jersey Blueberries" the location is mostly just telling you where it was produced. No one is misled by "Colby cheese" from California, but they would be misled by "New Jersey Blueberries" from Massachusetts.

Seems a bit arbitrary :) Which it is in Europe as well, e g. the essence of Wiener Schnitzel is not that it's from Vienna, but that it's made from veal. Same preparation using pork may only be sold as Vienna-style. Come to think of it, Wiener sausages don't have to come from Vienna either...

I think it's just a question of how the popular parlance evolves. Band-aids aren't just made by the one company anymore, earlier I "googled" something using duck duck go, and when I get sick I usually buy generic kleenex at the store.

I'll buy the store brands of colby cheese and muenster cheese, but "New Jersey Blueberries" are still a niche NJ product.

This certainly plays into it. From my understanding, part of "owning" a brand is actively protecting it from generifying (generification? ... keeping the brand name from turning into a generic designation). If a term becomes synonymous with a class of product, it's no worthy of trademark protection.

That's why companies are fairly protective of their brand names and insist that you use phrasing like "Scotch Brand adhesive tape" and avoid using the verb "to google".

Terms like "Escalator" and "Zipper" fall under that category.

On the other hand, even though you may think "Kleenex" is a generic term, good look trying to sell facial tissues under that moniker.

Funny thing, in Vienna they call it Frankfurter (sausage).

Ok, maybe it's not actually that different in the normal case!

>Buffalo sauce

Yes because it's made from buffalos.

I think you're confusing it with baby oil, which is gently squeezed from very oily babies.

Buffalo sauce is actually the sauce which you put on buffalo wings, which by law must come from winged bison.

> gently squeezed from very oily babies.

Oh. I'd been under the impression they use a very large garlic press style thing instead.

Sounds like it's a non-destructive measure after all?

They should really put that info on the bottles. :)

[/s if that's not obvious]

Extra virgin baby oil comes from gently squeezing. This is the only one aproved by peta

Virgin baby oil is extracted using a press.

Bog standard baby oil basically uses a blender, and then a centrifuge to get the last of the oil out.

Fun fact Johnson and Johnson is so called because it only used boys, under the mistaken belief that girl oil may make boys weak. Obviously in today's enlightened age such sexism is a thing of the past.

I'm from Europe and I wouldn't expect my Neapolitan ice-cream to come from Naples.

I doubt the French expect their creme anglais to come from England.

I don't think Germans expect their hamburgers to come from hamburg

> I wouldn't normally expect that to be an indication that something was made in the country containing that peak.

Really? Because it genuinely seems like a claim about where it's from to me. IN this case are you sure you're not just so used to being lied to that you expect the lie?

That said, your point about Neapolitan makes sense to me. Like - I know full well the "New york pizza" place near me is not shipping pizzas from new york, it's meaning "new york style". Not sure how to distinguish between geographic style references, which I have no problem with, and false implications about a product's origin. But it'd be nice if we could.

Yeah I think these "swiss" rules are more applicable to higher end things like Watches, the term "swiss made" would carry zero weight if those rules were not applied because every watch maker would find a way to stick that in there. But with this, I personally never saw the swiss connection and always found the branding to stand on it's own, and the mountain was never a big part of their branding anyways, it was always the shape of the box.

Growing up Subaru had these Outback commercials with a guy that had an Australian accent. The accent plus the Outback name made me believe for my entire childhood that Subaru were Australian cars.

At least the Pleiades are visible from the Australia for part of the year. So your misconception could have been worse.

Toyota sells a range of trucks in the USA named using North American geographical names. Perhaps it’s a Japanese thing?

Haha. I had the exact same misconception!

> Americans interpret "Champagne" to be a claim about the style, while Europeans interpret it to additionally include where the product was made

This is because the style has a specific name. A Champagne is:

- a sparkling wine

- made using the « méthode traditionnelle champenoise » (literally « traditional method from the Champagne region »)

- from the Champagne region

- + a few other technicalities

We have a lot of sparkling wines (« mousseux ») made with the méthode traditionnelle and they can be marked as such, but they’re not champagne. And they do taste different from champagne (and I personally prefer most méthode traditionnelle other than champagne so good for me, less expensive).

For products like wine or cheese, the soil has a huge impact on the final taste, that’s why it’s so important to differentiate between the type of product and its origin.

As someone who enjoys Crémant d'Alsace a lot more than Champagne, I'm so glad for the price difference :) Now if only I could find some in Hong Kong.

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