It is not every day that I’m being greeted with a friendly What the F***? in my favorite online news mag. The hubby is an avid reader too and actually sent me the article because he thought this might be blog worthy and it totally is.
I am certain that almost everyone in Europe has heard of the Austrian town of Fucking.
Those of you who have been following the drivel on this here blog may remember Fucking from the post I did on weird town names. Well Fucking was definitely mentioned there. How could it not?
Now Fucking and its whopping population of 93 are in the news. They have gotten used to the jokes about their town’s name. For more than 1000 years, yes that is one thousand, the parish carried that name and nobody thought it was funny. Probably because in the German language the word fucking did not have a real meaning. The town’s name is most likely dating back to a nobleman called Focko. But who knows really?
Anyway English speakers are getting a kick out of the town’s name and I bet that Fucking’s town sign is among the most photographed in Europe (according to Wikipedia it is also stolen quite often, which at $400 per sign is also quite expensive for the town) Three years ago the department for trademarks and design patent in the European Union decided to grant the name “Fucking Hell” for a beer brand to a German Marketing Agency. But because a brand name may neither be offending nor blasphemous, the decision was a tough one. In the end the EU decided to grant permission despite or because of the ambiguous meaning of “Fucking Hell”.
The Germans simply claim that it is not a blasphemous swear. Their argument being truly genius. Because the beer is being brewed in Fucking and Hell (as in helles Bier) which means a light colored (as opposed to amber colored or any other shade) or Lager beer in German, the beer is called “Fucking Hell”. A Lager brewed in Fucking.
You have got to love the way they were thinking. I wish them all the luck selling their beer. I would have one.
8 comments:
That is so F-ing funny! haha
I bet they get a little bit of tourism which makes up for the cost of replacing the $400 signs. Of course, it's the tourists who are stealing it, so it's a vicious circle. Maybe they should change the name?
The beer idea is genius, though. MIght as well capitalize on it. Are you sure this town isn't in America? :)
OOoooOOOO. I hope that beer has an online ordering so I can get some here! :)
It's nice to see that the Eurocrats haven't managed to completely outlaw fun.
There's a place here called Uckington. As you can imagine the name on the sign has been altered - so many times that they appear to have given up trying to clean it off...
I would buy a case if I could. There are a few people I would send it to as a gift.
Melisa Hehe, with a population of 93 I don't think tourism isn't big on their agenda to pay for the signs. It's more like a drive-by shooting. The tourists drive by, shooting a photo of (or stealing) the sign...
Rob I'll keep an eye out for you. I want some too.
Brian I heard about Uckington. You've got to feel for the poor people living there. They're utterly ucked.
Tara That gift idea is great. There are a few people on my list too.
I would so totally buy some if its sold in the states. That is FUCKING awesome!
That's great! I think I'm gonna need to steal that sign! LOL!
I wish I were having an F-ing beer in F-ing Germany right about now!
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