The Krasnoyarsk District Arbitration Court ordered the Yobidoyobi sushi distribution chain to change its name within three months. According to the court ruling, the name of the network is against “well-known principles of humanity and morality” as it may be compatible with blasphemy.
The newspaper writes that the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Federal Tax Service filed a lawsuit against Yobidoyebi. ngs24.ru based on the court file. Plaintiff points out that the word “Yobidoyobi” “may be perceived by a significant portion of consumers as being composed of an obscene word”.
The company claims its name is a translation of the Japanese phrase “Saturday is the day of the week.”
“Evidence that the declared designation was perceived by Russian consumers as an exact translation of the Japanese phrase “Saturday weekday” was not presented in the case materials,” the court said.
The judge concluded that Russian transliterations from any foreign language, particularly Japanese, should be evaluated primarily for compliance with Russian law.
The court said, “The controversial word has such a fiction that the defendant’s company name consists of the use of two words, which consist of the famous obscene, swear word and the letter “e”.
At the same time, in file cabinet it is said that the court’s assessment was guided not by the point of view of experts in the field of linguistics, but by the position of “an ordinary participant in civil circulation – an unlimited number of people with the opportunity to meet.” the brand of the restaurant”.
According to the court, linguistic expertise is not required to look for signs of moral violation, because “special knowledge” is not required in identifying connotations with profanity.
“They change the name, then they don’t like the sets”
The management of the Yobidoyebi network promised to “fight to the end” for his name and appealed the decision of the Krasnoyarsk court. In an interview with the network’s co-founder Konstantin Zimen socialbites.ca, he said that the company will conduct additional reviews and surveys if necessary, but will not change its name.
“We have been in existence for eight years, and we are constantly confronted with certain principled attitudes from various authorities who demand something from us. Either change the name, then they don’t like some sets, then something else. For us, it’s just marketing, and we take it quite calmly, ”said the co-founder of the network.
He recalled that the courts had previously ruled that the name “Yobidoyobi” does not violate anything.
“We will discuss how it will turn out that different authorities read any exam as they wish. I assure you that in Krasnoyarsk, where we started everything, no one has any complaints. We are a very well-known brand and people love us,” Zimen concluded.
Company related scandals
“Yobidoyobi” started working in Krasnoyarsk in 2016. Now they have points in more than 60 cities of Russia, including Moscow. From the very beginning, brand owners relied on aggressive and provocative marketing. Advertising of restaurant chain products has repeatedly been at the center of scandals.
So, in 2021, the Volgograd department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service considered an advertisement containing a set of KuniLi rolls to be obscene, and in October 2022 the Krasnoyarsk department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service sued Yobidoyobi for an advertisement with the words. “Do you want Chpoki ki?”. But the requirements for changing the name had not arrived before.
In 2016, the architecture department of Krasnoyarsk complained about the name of the restaurant chain, but then FAS officers did not find any signs of violations of the law on advertising in it. And in October 2021, the Volgograd department of the FAS announced its intention to apply to the Federal Tax Service with a proposal to initiate a lawsuit to change the brand name “Yobidoyobi”.
Konstantin Zimen later also told socialbites.ca that the company would not change its brand.
“We are not considering changing the name, I don’t even know how they will force the company to change the name. “There is no such legal measure in our country,” he said.
In August 2021, the company had to apologize to the “Russian nation” for its advertising posts with a black man. Shortly before that, the network’s co-founder complained of threats.
Zimen said social media users began accusing Yobidoyobi of “promoting multiculturalism” because of a photo of a black man eating bread surrounded by Slavic-looking girls. According to Zimen, the accusations and threats against the company came after Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the founder of the radical nationalist movement “Men’s State” (an organization banned in Russia), called on Telegram to “leave reviews” about the company. order and don’t pay.
The network’s co-founder said he had received threats, including death threats, to his personal phone, and that the distribution network’s website had been hacked. And despite Zimen’s previously saying that the company wouldn’t remove the photos despite comments on social networks, the restaurant had to give up advertising as a result.