4 ms·

As a Mexican, I'm still salty with Bimbo because I went to Spain, and they sold there better, bigger Bimbo-brand sliced bread than here, including varieties wit

As a Mexican, I'm still salty with Bimbo because I went to Spain, and they sold there better, bigger Bimbo-brand sliced bread than here, including varieties without crust. It takes guts to keep the brand name in English-speaking contries, though. > The name was formed as the combination of the Disney Bambi and Dumbo films names, which were the favourite movies of Marinela, Lorenzo Servitje's daughter. Later, the founders would find out that bimbo is an Italian slang for children (shortened from bambino), and that in China the word for bread (面包, miànbāo) is similar to the name of the brand.

gumby 2y ago
> It takes guts to keep the brand name in English-speaking contries, though. I think they mostly only sell bimbo-branded goods in spanish language shops (where the brand would help sell). In, say, Safeway you only see the US brands they have acquired, at least where I live.
- bdw5204 2y ago
  They actually have the Bimbo brand on the soccer jerseys for the Philadelphia Union which probably isn't good for the team's jersey sales.
  - ipaddr 2y ago
    They sell you a jersey for $300 and still put advertising logos?
    - vel0city 2y ago
      This is incredibly common with soccer jerseys in many big keagues. And I mean the brand logos on soccer jerseys are often big elements. You'd pretty much have a solid color shirt if it wasn't for the brands in them.
    - pimlottc 2y ago
      All football teams do this.
  - spaceguillotine 2y ago
    Bimbo-core is actually on trend right now
  - mperham 2y ago
    This year the jersey has Thomas’s, the English muffin brand owned by Bimbo.
- PopAlongKid 2y ago
  Orowheat bread at Safeway, the name Bimbo Bakeries is printed just as large as the font for the ingredients list.
OJFord 2y ago
> in China the word for bread (面包, miànbāo) is similar to ['Bimbo'] Err.. ish? About as similar as 'Hacker News' and 'cake her knees', anyway?
- kian 2y ago
  They are slant rhymes of one another. B and M are phonetically nearby, as are ia and ih and ao and ou. In no way like hacker news and cake her knees -- but more like hacker news and hagger moos ;)
  - OJFord 2y ago
    I stand by 'ish' - B is plosive & M is not; that difference is if anything more apparent in Mandarin than English. Then 'im' is read flat and not like 'ià'. Of course 'bo' is quite like 'bāo', but that's your 'ish'.
    - carrotcarrot 2y ago
      Are you a native Chinese speaker? I've noticed Chinese are very loose with their puns, and it helps that there is a lot of regional dialect variation in pronunciation. For example a common one is 520 (wu er ling) being used for "wo ai ni" (I love you) So I wouldn't put it past them to consider the two words as "similar"
      - OJFord 2y ago
        No, very far from it! That's interesting, thanks.
Tomte 2y ago
And in German, Bimbo is a very racist and insulting word for people with darker skin. Pretty close to the n-word in America.
- Ekaros 2y ago
  In Finland it is insult, mostly for mentally crazy woman... Think of the not exactly bright blond women in tv shows and like.
  - buildbot 2y ago
    That’s likely a USA cultulareism that was imported? Or did english steal that word?
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      It's had that meaning in the USA for decades, so Finnish probably borrowed it. The US doesn't get much exposure to Finnish media.
      - buildbot 2y ago
        Yeah that's what I figured too. Anyone have recommendations for Finnish media? Haha
  - Tomte 2y ago
    ISO clearly needs to get their act together and start standardizing cross-language insult verbiage.
- kgwgk 2y ago
  Swiss court bans ‘racist’ Mexican food brand ‘Bimbo’ https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multinational-companies/swiss-court-bans-racist-mexican-food-brand-bimbo/78188367 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multinational-companies/swiss-c...
  - 2y ago
ammo1662 2y ago
Actually, Bimbo has an official Chinese brand and company name "宾堡". The "宾" means guest while the "堡" means castle or fort. "宾" sounds like "bin" in "Bing" and "堡" sounds like "bo" in bottle or boom (not exactly, hard to pickup a word sounds exactly the same). It is a meaningless word which has basically the same pronunciation with "Bimbo". As for bread "面包"，"面" means powder of wheat or products made by that. "包" means something looks like a bag, or has some fillings inside. Just not so meaningless. And "面" sounds like "me" in "mean" plus "an" in "and". It is not the same like "宾堡".
prmoustache 2y ago
> As a Mexican, I'm still salty with Bimbo because I went to Spain, and they sold there better, bigger Bimbo-brand sliced bread than here, I have yet to see any Bimbo product either in México or Spain, that would remotely look like bread. > including varieties without crust. Also WTF.

gumby 2y ago

> It takes guts to keep the brand name in English-speaking contries, though. I think they mostly only sell bimbo-branded goods in spanish language shops (where the brand would help sell). In, say, Safeway you only see the US brands they have acquired, at least where I live.

bdw5204 2y ago
They actually have the Bimbo brand on the soccer jerseys for the Philadelphia Union which probably isn't good for the team's jersey sales.
- ipaddr 2y ago
  They sell you a jersey for $300 and still put advertising logos?
  - vel0city 2y ago
    This is incredibly common with soccer jerseys in many big keagues. And I mean the brand logos on soccer jerseys are often big elements. You'd pretty much have a solid color shirt if it wasn't for the brands in them.
  - pimlottc 2y ago
    All football teams do this.
- spaceguillotine 2y ago
  Bimbo-core is actually on trend right now
- mperham 2y ago
  This year the jersey has Thomas’s, the English muffin brand owned by Bimbo.
PopAlongKid 2y ago
Orowheat bread at Safeway, the name Bimbo Bakeries is printed just as large as the font for the ingredients list.

OJFord 2y ago

> in China the word for bread (面包, miànbāo) is similar to ['Bimbo'] Err.. ish? About as similar as 'Hacker News' and 'cake her knees', anyway?

kian 2y ago
They are slant rhymes of one another. B and M are phonetically nearby, as are ia and ih and ao and ou. In no way like hacker news and cake her knees -- but more like hacker news and hagger moos ;)
- OJFord 2y ago
  I stand by 'ish' - B is plosive & M is not; that difference is if anything more apparent in Mandarin than English. Then 'im' is read flat and not like 'ià'. Of course 'bo' is quite like 'bāo', but that's your 'ish'.
  - carrotcarrot 2y ago
    Are you a native Chinese speaker? I've noticed Chinese are very loose with their puns, and it helps that there is a lot of regional dialect variation in pronunciation. For example a common one is 520 (wu er ling) being used for "wo ai ni" (I love you) So I wouldn't put it past them to consider the two words as "similar"
    - OJFord 2y ago
      No, very far from it! That's interesting, thanks.

Tomte 2y ago

And in German, Bimbo is a very racist and insulting word for people with darker skin. Pretty close to the n-word in America.

Ekaros 2y ago
In Finland it is insult, mostly for mentally crazy woman... Think of the not exactly bright blond women in tv shows and like.
- buildbot 2y ago
  That’s likely a USA cultulareism that was imported? Or did english steal that word?
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    It's had that meaning in the USA for decades, so Finnish probably borrowed it. The US doesn't get much exposure to Finnish media.
    - buildbot 2y ago
      Yeah that's what I figured too. Anyone have recommendations for Finnish media? Haha
- Tomte 2y ago
  ISO clearly needs to get their act together and start standardizing cross-language insult verbiage.
kgwgk 2y ago
Swiss court bans ‘racist’ Mexican food brand ‘Bimbo’ https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multinational-companies/swiss-court-bans-racist-mexican-food-brand-bimbo/78188367 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multinational-companies/swiss-c...
- 2y ago

ammo1662 2y ago

Actually, Bimbo has an official Chinese brand and company name "宾堡". The "宾" means guest while the "堡" means castle or fort. "宾" sounds like "bin" in "Bing" and "堡" sounds like "bo" in bottle or boom (not exactly, hard to pickup a word sounds exactly the same). It is a meaningless word which has basically the same pronunciation with "Bimbo". As for bread "面包"，"面" means powder of wheat or products made by that. "包" means something looks like a bag, or has some fillings inside. Just not so meaningless. And "面" sounds like "me" in "mean" plus "an" in "and". It is not the same like "宾堡".

prmoustache 2y ago

> As a Mexican, I'm still salty with Bimbo because I went to Spain, and they sold there better, bigger Bimbo-brand sliced bread than here, I have yet to see any Bimbo product either in México or Spain, that would remotely look like bread. > including varieties without crust. Also WTF.