6 ms·

East India Company brand returns after 135-year absence

44 points by kvs 16y ago

pierre_M 16y ago
At its peak, the company employed a third of the British workforce and was responsible for a huge tranche of global trade. I knew it was big, but a third of the British workforce? That's insane. Anyway, I welcome the East India Company back. I realise it has almost nothing in common with the original entity, but I personally might buy their tea if it becomes available here, just for the illicit non-PC pro-colonialism thrill.
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago
  "non-PC pro-colonialism thrill" Heh, that's the secret branch-off of the brand lifecycle I guess. Companies that have, heretofore, fallen by the wayside or were unceremoniously erased from the collective conscience gets resurrected as a new, edgier brand. It happened with Indian Motorcycles. Now, _that_ brand is known as the "rebel" brand (though it's ironically owned by a stodgy English private equity firm), while Harley-Davidson has slowly become the "fat yuppie or old fart (re)sowing their wild suburban oats" brand. I bet you certain elements want to keep the embargo of Cuba by Americans going to keep the market for illicit cigars (and the requisite mystique of smoking one) going strong. Like the big to-do about absinthe. Now that it's semi-legal (as long as it doesn't contain x amount of thujone) it's become passe in the "cool" clubs.
- groaner 16y ago
  It's big in the sense that it exercised power in a way that dwarfs what we currently regard as modern corporate kleptocracy. The Company wasn't just a trading company, it was responsible for exercising political power in India on behalf of the British crown, and even operated its own military forces. It's precisely this excess concentration of monopoly power that Adam Smith described in The Wealth of Nations as a criticism of capitalism gone awry [1]. Probably as close to a real-life manifestation of Shinra as we've ever had in history. [1] http://www.newstatesman.com/200412130016.htm http://www.newstatesman.com/200412130016.htm
- w00pla 16y ago
  > I knew it was big, but a third of the British workforce? That's insane. The British East India Company is nothing against the Dutch East India company. From WP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company) > was a chartered company established in 1602 > It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock.[1] It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies > Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asia trade. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted for their efforts more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods. By contrast, the rest of Europe combined sent only 882,412 people from 1500 to 1795, and the fleet of the English (later British) East India Company, the VOC’s nearest competitor, was a distant second to its total traffic with 2,690 ships and a mere one-fifth the tonnage of goods carried by the VOC. The VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 1600s. > The Dutch East India Company remained an important trading concern for almost two centuries, paying an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years.
keeptrying 16y ago
In every Indian history textbook, The East India company is listed as the initial vehicle which brought about the British rule in India. Since I was brought up in India, I had a VERY -ve reaction just reading the story here on Hacker News. It was kind of built in. I dont understand why this guy would pick this name for his company. Maybe he never intends to sell in India.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- mahmud 16y ago
  Of course not. It's an upscale boutique store in London, selling colonial prestige to has-been ex-imperialists.
  - drinian 16y ago
    There's also an upscale clothing chain in Malaysia and Singapore called "British India," oddly enough.
- unexpected 16y ago
  I agree with you, but come on, as an Indian wouldn't you LOVE to own the Dutch East India company? I also think reverse colonialism played a huge part in Tata's purchase of Land Rover and Jaguar. "Turnabout is fair play" as they say - I'm sure there are a bunch of Indians who would love to get a hold of "prized" British assets. It's an ego thing.
  - whatwhatwhat 16y ago
    Like eating the bones of your defeated opponents kind-of-a-thing?
  - keeptrying 16y ago
    After considering my initial reaction I realise that the whole problem is that our emotions so stirred up by stupid stuff like this. It'd be better if we forget about the british and get on with building a great nation. Yes I admit I have the same problem. :) For non indians some context - the media in Indian loves to use the British raj and the political correctness associated with it to gain viewers.
Keyframe 16y ago
So, the company that played a major role in modern India's history, American Revolution and for the most part British modern history is now a brand with a bit more than a coffee and tea shop? I wouldn't call that exactly a 'return'. It's more of a homage+memorabilia setup than anything.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
aresant 16y ago
Anybody have data on what he paid for the brand?
kragen 16y ago
I would be highly amused if some Americans visiting London stole the store's entire stock and dumped it into the harbor, for old time's sake. I would be less amused if activists decided to re-enact some of the other episodes from the history of this company.

44 points by kvs 16y ago

At its peak, the company employed a third of the British workforce and was responsible for a huge tranche of global trade. I knew it was big, but a third of the British workforce? That's insane. Anyway, I welcome the East India Company back. I realise it has almost nothing in common with the original entity, but I personally might buy their tea if it becomes available here, just for the illicit non-PC pro-colonialism thrill.

muhfuhkuh 16y ago
"non-PC pro-colonialism thrill" Heh, that's the secret branch-off of the brand lifecycle I guess. Companies that have, heretofore, fallen by the wayside or were unceremoniously erased from the collective conscience gets resurrected as a new, edgier brand. It happened with Indian Motorcycles. Now, _that_ brand is known as the "rebel" brand (though it's ironically owned by a stodgy English private equity firm), while Harley-Davidson has slowly become the "fat yuppie or old fart (re)sowing their wild suburban oats" brand. I bet you certain elements want to keep the embargo of Cuba by Americans going to keep the market for illicit cigars (and the requisite mystique of smoking one) going strong. Like the big to-do about absinthe. Now that it's semi-legal (as long as it doesn't contain x amount of thujone) it's become passe in the "cool" clubs.
groaner 16y ago
It's big in the sense that it exercised power in a way that dwarfs what we currently regard as modern corporate kleptocracy. The Company wasn't just a trading company, it was responsible for exercising political power in India on behalf of the British crown, and even operated its own military forces. It's precisely this excess concentration of monopoly power that Adam Smith described in The Wealth of Nations as a criticism of capitalism gone awry [1]. Probably as close to a real-life manifestation of Shinra as we've ever had in history. [1] http://www.newstatesman.com/200412130016.htm http://www.newstatesman.com/200412130016.htm
w00pla 16y ago
> I knew it was big, but a third of the British workforce? That's insane. The British East India Company is nothing against the Dutch East India company. From WP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company) > was a chartered company established in 1602 > It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock.[1] It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies > Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asia trade. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted for their efforts more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods. By contrast, the rest of Europe combined sent only 882,412 people from 1500 to 1795, and the fleet of the English (later British) East India Company, the VOC’s nearest competitor, was a distant second to its total traffic with 2,690 ships and a mere one-fifth the tonnage of goods carried by the VOC. The VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 1600s. > The Dutch East India Company remained an important trading concern for almost two centuries, paying an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years.

keeptrying 16y ago

In every Indian history textbook, The East India company is listed as the initial vehicle which brought about the British rule in India. Since I was brought up in India, I had a VERY -ve reaction just reading the story here on Hacker News. It was kind of built in. I dont understand why this guy would pick this name for his company. Maybe he never intends to sell in India.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
mahmud 16y ago
Of course not. It's an upscale boutique store in London, selling colonial prestige to has-been ex-imperialists.
- drinian 16y ago
  There's also an upscale clothing chain in Malaysia and Singapore called "British India," oddly enough.
unexpected 16y ago
I agree with you, but come on, as an Indian wouldn't you LOVE to own the Dutch East India company? I also think reverse colonialism played a huge part in Tata's purchase of Land Rover and Jaguar. "Turnabout is fair play" as they say - I'm sure there are a bunch of Indians who would love to get a hold of "prized" British assets. It's an ego thing.
- whatwhatwhat 16y ago
  Like eating the bones of your defeated opponents kind-of-a-thing?
- keeptrying 16y ago
  After considering my initial reaction I realise that the whole problem is that our emotions so stirred up by stupid stuff like this. It'd be better if we forget about the british and get on with building a great nation. Yes I admit I have the same problem. :) For non indians some context - the media in Indian loves to use the British raj and the political correctness associated with it to gain viewers.

Keyframe 16y ago

So, the company that played a major role in modern India's history, American Revolution and for the most part British modern history is now a brand with a bit more than a coffee and tea shop? I wouldn't call that exactly a 'return'. It's more of a homage+memorabilia setup than anything.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

aresant 16y ago

Anybody have data on what he paid for the brand?

kragen 16y ago

I would be highly amused if some Americans visiting London stole the store's entire stock and dumped it into the harbor, for old time's sake. I would be less amused if activists decided to re-enact some of the other episodes from the history of this company.