What’s in a name? A whole lot, it turns out, at least when it comes to marketing beer in Myanmar.
Carlsberg is this week locked in a dispute with a Mandalay-based composer who says the Danish beer giant stole a phrase he coined to market Tuborg in Myanmar.
Myoma Nyein’s song titled ‘Tu Po’ has become intertwined with the Thingyan festival and is widely played during the April holiday.
The family was less than happy, then, to see Carlsberg’s Tuborg brew hit the local market last year with the transliteration ‘Tu Po’ printed on beer cans.
The songwriter’s relatives say Carlsberg approached four times to ask for the use of ‘Tu Po’ and were denied on each occasion.
They say they have told the firm to change the name within a week or be taken to court.
“Since we don’t have a proper copyright law, we know we’re going to lose the case,” Zaw Myo Oo, the composer’s grandson, told the Irrawaddy,“but we are doing this for every Burmese person losing their copyright due to a lack of rule of law.”
A spokesperson for Carlsberg Myanmar sent Coconuts Yangon this short statement on Monday:
“We understand that there was a press conference in Mandalay regarding the use of the Thingyan traditional song. We are committed to fair and transparent business practices and only have the best intentions to work in this market. We will contact the Myo Ma Nyein family to resolve situation.”
