BCBusiness

66 BCBusiness march 2018 "U.S. political and thoughtleaders are just beginning to understand the problem…" (Washington Post, December 10, 2017) the Cambridge Dictionary defines a thought leader as an expert on a subject whose ideas and opinions influence others, especially in business. Judging from the reams of articles and seminars on how to become a thought leader, many people aspire to be influential. some see it as a form of marketing to establish their brand. But it's not enough to be knowledgeable–a thought leader must tell the world about their ideas through blogs, articles, public speaking or even a book–the traditional way to become an authority. thought leader JARgoN WATCH [from Old English (ge)thōht + lædere: a thought + one who leads] decided that a name taken from a group of Islamic Iranian nomads might not y in Texas and Iowa (it might even be denied entry at the airport). But if they did come to that conclusion, they probably had a point. When you're trying to sell cars, you don't need Sean Hannity frothing at the mouth about insidious corporate brainwashing campaigns intended to destroy America's Christian heritage. Best to keep the focus on cargo space and gas mileage. There's a German sports car called Lotec, a brand that seems refreshingly free of focus group inuence. It brings to mind the famous story of the Chevy Nova, said to be a disaster in Spanish-speaking markets because it translated as "won't go." Alas, this durable and amusing anecdote is a myth. It is worth noting that Mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (Pemex) long sold a brand of gasoline called Nova, and nobody seemed to think it carried any unfortunate message for Mexican motorists. Still, the provenance of names like Lexus, Acura and Previa suggests that automobile marketers have heard the legend of the Nova disaster and are determined to avoid trouble by crafting the most meaningless collections of pleasant syllables they can muster. Even if the Nova "asco is a myth, there have been other unfortunate vehicle names. In 1937, with Hitler ruling Germany, Mussolini running Italy, and Salazar in Portugal, not to mention Francisco Franco "ghting to take over Spain, the Studebaker company decided to change the name of one of its sedans—the Dictator. (The company had another model called the President— presumably you could choose a Studebaker not only for its features but for your political views.) The Qashqai name is intriguing for another reason. The Jeep Cherokee brand has long been controversial because it refers to a Native American band; other nameplates like Pontiac and Comanche have been retired, in many cases after a long history of racist advertising. Not only has the Cherokee brand survived, it was revived in 2014 to go along with the existing Grand Cherokee models. The familiarity of the brand appears to have won out over other concerns. Is taking a name from an Iranian tribal group di¥erent from calling your vehicle a Comanche? Lacking space here for a full-on rhetorical barroom brawl, I will just suggest that subjecting a group of people to years of military atrocities, cultural oppression and racist caricature ought to be a factor in whether it's cool to adopt their ethnic or tribal name for a product sold in North America. The name Qashqai does not carry the same historical baggage as Cherokee or Apache. All the same, it would be nice to think Nissan asked "rst. Meanwhile, spare some sympathy for China's GAC Motor, which hopes to introduce its Legend model in North America. Unfortunately, the Mandarin word for legend is trumpchi. They'd be better o¥ calling it the Pinto. Men, making a statement doesn't have to be so hard Make your life extraordinary with the BCLiving Extraordinary Man #editorsbox S u b S c r i b e n o w at bcLiving.ca/ the-extraordinary-man

• Cover