[sdrothrock]

I think it could be CONSTRUED as a racist comment, but the person thinking of it that way would be really stretching, in my opinion.

1. All of these counterfeit items are coming from China.

2. The legit seller is ElevationLab, which "suiningdonghanjiaju Co Ltd" is not.

3. "suiningdonghanjiaju Co Ltd" is a Chinese name.

4. "suiningdonghanjiaju Co Ltd" is a very customer-unfriendly name -- not something you'd see from a big foreign-facing Chinese company.

So all in all, it doesn't seem racist at all to point out that this company name seems illegitimate.

If the author had MADE UP a "Chinese-sounding name" like "nihaobaobaomao," then yeah, I could follow an argument pointing out that statement as being reasonably construed as racist. But in the context of talking about Chinese companies producing cheap knock-offs, I don't see a problem with naming the company and pointing out that the name itself does not sound like a legit company at all.

[shard]

Some counterpoints and comments.

1. So many legit items come from China that as a consumer you can't dismiss something out of hand just because it came from China. 3. Huawei is a Chinese name, Xiaomi is a Chinese name. See #1. 4. This is a legitimate point. The company did not optimize their name for a non-Chinese audience.

I think the main thrust of why that comment has racist tones is because it feels like the main complaint is that it's a foreign (non-Western) sounding name, hard to pronounce and funny looking, therefore it cannot be legitimate.

(Actually, I don't know if you did it on purpose, but nihaobaobaomao is a great name... It's very cute and sounds like "Hello bundle kitty"...)

[sdrothrock]

Great comments, but I think I disagree with some of them. :)

> 1. So many legit items come from China that as a consumer you can't dismiss something out of hand just because it came from China.

This is true, but I don't think it's a counterpoint. Regardless of how many legitimate products come out of China, the fact remains that the huge, huge majority of counterfeit products are from China. So if you're looking at a counterfeit product, the odds are that it will be from China, regardless of how many other legitimate products out there are from China.

> 3. Huawei is a Chinese name, Xiaomi is a Chinese name

Those were ones I was thinking of, which is why I added the "not something you'd see from a big foreign-facing Chinese company" bit.

It's a foreigner-unfriendly name, terrible for marketing, searches, and sales. I can't imagine a legit company trying to use it overseas. Something like Huawei or Xiaomi (or in other cases, Samsung, Hitachi, BMW, Volvo, etc.) are short and sweet, simpler to digest and remember.

> I think the main thrust of why that comment has racist tones is because it feels like the main complaint is that it's a foreign (non-Western) sounding name, hard to pronounce and funny looking, therefore it cannot be legitimate.

I do completely agree with that, but in my opinion, with the evidence in this case, the complaint itself couldn't reasonably be construed as racist. In hindsight, my argument about "shorter, more professional names" is basically this quote ("hard to pronounce and funny looking") boiled into more reasonable terms...

> Actually, I don't know if you did it on purpose, but nihaobaobaomao is a great name... It's very cute and sounds like "Hello bundle kitty"...

You caught me. :P

I couldn't bring myself to type something really stereotypically racist.

[gae_supeu]

> > Actually, I don't know if you did it on purpose, but nihaobaobaomao is a great name... It's very cute and sounds like "Hello bundle kitty"... > You caught me. :P > I couldn't bring myself to type something really stereotypically racist.

Hello cat buns!? Of course that's racist; accusing people of eating cats....

:)

(Yeah, that's how I read bao at first...)

More seriously, consider Fenix or Anker; they have "short professional" names, but are not particularly western (esp. the spelling). Both are newer companies, based in China, sell fairly heavily on Amazon, and are frankly some of the best providers of their product niches.

[shard]

This is definitely one of those "if you squint at it, it could be racist" borderline comments. I feel that the problem with these comments is that it normalizes the acceptance of alienness as untrustworthy. That may have been true in society a long time ago, but with a global economy, this is a dangerous thought. It also has effects outside of commerce, such as marginalizing people with hard to pronounce or funny looking names. It's a subtle effect that may not have much impact in individual instances, but in aggregate can be very strong.

[0xcde4c3db]

Incidentally, is "Co Ltd" even a meaningful designation for a Chinese business entity? I usually see it for British or Japanese companies.

[FireBeyond]

Yes, especially those based out of Hong Kong for similar reasons (formed during the British Empire/occupancy/what-have-you).