---
title: "How Did These Food Industry Giants Get Their Brand Names? Do You Know?"
description: "As an intangible asset of a company, a name holds a pivotal position in the industry. Behind these well-known food brands lie fascinating stories that every food industry professional should know. From Wahaha's public naming contest to Master Kong's health and respect connotations, each name carries a unique tale."
author: "New Distribution"
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published: "2017-12-26"
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# How Did These Food Industry Giants Get Their Brand Names? Do You Know?

> As an intangible asset of a company, a name holds a pivotal position in the industry. Behind these well-known food brands lie fascinating stories that every food industry professional should know. From Wahaha's public naming contest to Master Kong's health and respect connotations, each name carries a unique tale.

**As an intangible asset of a company, a name holds a pivotal position in the industry. Behind these well-known food brands lie fascinating stories that every food industry professional should know.**
**Wahaha**
When the Wahaha Group collaborated with relevant institutions to develop a children's nutritional liquid—a niche product at the time—they solicited name suggestions from the public through media, and organized experts to evaluate hundreds of submissions from perspectives including marketing, psychology, communication, sociology, and linguistics. Influenced by traditional naming conventions for nutritional liquids, people's thinking tended to revolve around names like "su" (essence), "jing" (essence), or "bao" (treasure), and no one paid attention to "Wahaha," which originated from a Xinjiang folk song. However, factory director Zong Qinghou favored these three characters for three reasons: First, the vowel 'a' in "Wahaha" is the earliest and easiest sound for children to make, easy to imitate, and the pronunciation is loud, harmonious, and easy to remember and accept. Second, literally, "haha" represents laughter and joy across all cultures. Third, the same-named children's song, with its cheerful and lively melody and strong ethnic flavor, has been sung across the Tianshan Mountains and throughout the country. Linking such a widely circulated folk song with the product trademark helps people become familiar with it, recall it, and remember it, thereby enhancing its visibility.
**Master Kong**
"Master Kong" is a brand established by Ting Hsin in 1992 to enter the mainland market. "Kong" (Master) represents health and sounds resounding; "Shifu" (master) is the most common respectful term in mainland China, signifying professionalism and skill, while also being very approachable. Combined with the smiling, honest-looking "chubby chef" image, it is a highly appealing brand. Thus, Ting Hsin Group settled on "Master Kong" as the product name.
**Want Want**
Chairman Tsai Eng-meng has always loved dogs, and his pet, Blackie, had been with him since he was seven years old. "His eyes were bright and spirited, full of confidence and fighting spirit. From a young age, he would pick fights with bigger dogs, and twice he was bitten so badly he had to be hospitalized. But every time he came back from the hospital, he would still seek out bigger dogs to fight," the chairman recounted about his beloved dog. So enamored with dogs, he used the homophone of a dog's bark, "Wang Wang," as the company name, symbolizing that business would prosper and grow.
**Mengniu**
One day in early 1999, at the Bayan Tal Hotel in Hohhot, Niu Gensheng, Sun Yubin, Yang Wenjun, Qiu Lianjun, Bai Jun, Deng Jiuqiang, Sun Xianhong, and others held a secret meeting with the aim of coming up with a name for the company about to be registered. Adhering to the principle "Keep it simple to succeed," Sun Xianhong said, "Look at 'Aoniu' (Australian cattle), it's simple—just 'Australian cattle.'" These words struck a chord, and someone blurted out, "Then let's call ourselves 'Mengniu' (Mongolian cattle)!" Thus, Mengniu was born.
**Xiang Piao Piao**
In the winter of 2003, Jiang Jianqi was pondering the company's direction. It wasn't until the Spring Festival of 2004 that a queue of over 500 meters outside a milk tea shop inspired him. Jiang had a flash of inspiration: "If we make street milk tea convenient, people won't have to queue!" He immediately went to the Hangzhou Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology to research milk tea recipes and then hired a design company for packaging. Six months later, the fragrant aroma of milk tea wafting from the lab led Jiang to think of a brand name: "Our milk tea will be called 'Xiang Piao Piao' (fragrant and floating)!"
**Wang Laoji**
Wang Laoji herbal tea is a famous Chinese herbal tea, created by Wang Zebang from Heshan, Guangdong, during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty (around 1830). Wang Zebang was devoted to medicine and had good medical ethics, treating everyone equally regardless of wealth or status, and only sought to heal. As a result, people regarded him as one of their own and called him by his childhood name, "Aji." As he aged, he naturally became "Wang Laoji" (Old Wang Ji). During the Daoguang period, an epidemic of miasma broke out in Guangzhou. To save patients, Wang Laoji went through great hardships to find a remedy, eventually obtaining a secret formula and developing a herbal tea recipe. This tea not only relieved the villagers' ailments but also helped them survive smallpox and other epidemics, earning Wang Laoji great fame.
**Dove**
The Dove chocolate logo is formed from the letters of "DOVE," which expand to "DO YOU LOVE ME—Do you love me?" The font is chocolate-colored, as if drizzled with sweet chocolate sauce, exuding sweetness. The design focuses on its meaning and the well-known tragic love story behind it. In the early 20th century, a sorrowful love story unfolded in Luxembourg between Basha and Leon. Due to royal privilege struggles, they missed each other. To commemorate this love, Leon painstakingly developed the unique, mellow Dove chocolate, with each piece firmly engraved with "DOVE." Today, Dove chocolate comes in dozens of flavors, and every kind of love can be interpreted and entrusted in this chocolate kingdom.
**Coca-Cola**
In 1927, a new beverage appeared on the streets of Shanghai—"蝌蚪啃蜡" (tadpole chewing wax). The name wasn't the strangest thing about it. Its brownish liquid, bittersweet taste, and the bubbles that filled the bottle when opened intrigued many. With a strange taste and a strange name, sales were naturally poor. So, the following year, the beverage company publicly advertised in newspapers, offering a £350 prize for a better translation. Eventually, a Shanghai professor living in England, Chiang Yee, beat all competitors and took the prize. The company also obtained what is widely regarded by the advertising industry as the best-translated brand name—Coca-Cola.
**Pepsi-Cola**
Pepsi-Cola was originally created in the 1890s by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist from North Carolina, USA. Initially named "Brad's Drink," it was made with carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, essential oils, pepsin, and cola nut. Bradham believed that because it contained pepsin, it aided digestion and was beneficial to health. The drink was renamed "Pepsi" on August 28, 1898, and was trademarked on June 16, 1903.
**McDonald's**
You might think the giant golden arches forming the "M" come from the word "McDonald's" because it happens to start with an M, but you'd be wrong. The golden arches actually come from the original McDonald's restaurant design, whose distinctive feature was the golden arches, making the building stand out. The idea for the arches dates back to architect Stanley Meston, who suggested them to channel rainwater and provide convenience for queuing customers and drivers. In the 1960s, when the restaurant updated its brand, it decided to make the arches, which were visible from highways, the symbol of the entire brand.
Source: Food Entrepreneur
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