What’s in a name, you may ask
● When a Durban bottled-water company named itself “It’s Not Made in China”, the owners didn’t bargain for controversy, death threats or hateful messages.
All Tracy and William Ruggier wanted to do was sell responsibly made plastic water bottles, create a platform for young artists to showcase their artwork on their products and encourage South Africans to support local business.
But Chinese nationals did not see the humour in the tongue-in-cheek name.
The company has been operating since 2014 and only recently raised the ire of the Chinese, who reacted to the name following a post on China’s social media site, Weibo.
“This bottled water is asking to be told off. I’m going to boycott it,” the post read.
The post went viral after it was picked up by Chinese, Canadian and US media.
Within days the couple were bombarded with threatening phone calls and social media messages about their recyclable plastic bottles — sold at delis, small supermarkets and coffee shops throughout SA.
Another offended Chinese national posted on the company’s Instagram account: “You came up with a terrible name. Chinese people are working hard to improve their country and their lives, they’ve got no time for you. Racists will always exist.”
Calls were also made for a boycott of the company’s products — made from PET plastic, which is 100% recyclable.
“We had an idea to do things a little differently, and locally, and because everyone is so used to reading Made in China on just about everything, we knew that by saying the opposite ... we would signal that we wanted to do things a little differently,” said William.
“We didn’t mean to hurt, anger or offend anybody. This brand is about the artists and being environmentally friendly.”
Afraid for their lives, the couple approached the police for help, but there was little they could do to trace the calls or e-mails.
Ironically, the international media attention has now put the company on the global map, with orders to the UK and Ireland about to be shipped out.
The Chinese embassy did not respond to a request for comment.