On my recent trip to China I was constantly amazed by the signs of just how fast China was accelerating in so many ways from the increase in the number of cars, through to their burgeoning business and industrial sectors. When it comes to branding, the Chinese are also keen to be up-to-date, which can lead to some charming translation of western branding. At World Expo in Shanghai I came across the beauty, a Chinese fast food brand called ‘Uncle Fast Food’. It seems to hit all the cues – a Confucian character, leveraging the trust of a close and respected relative, red and yellow brand colours, but as the queue of local customers snaked past the entrance of Uncle Fast Food from the KFC next door I was left wondering where the brand translation had gone wrong.
