FMT revisits past cases in which names or content caused a national uproar.
No beer, no dog
The A&W fast-food chain has been part of many Malaysian childhoods since the 1960s. Many may have forgotten that it had to change the name of its “Coney Dog” to “Chicken Coney” and to call its famous root beer simply RB.
This followed a new rule in 2012 by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) that the halal logo could not be given to items that had “beer” or “dog” in their names.
A&W Malaysia told the press it even changed its URL from www.rootbeer.com to www.anwmalaysia.com.my as a precaution.
But A&W wasn’t the only one held up for the word “dog”.
Auntie Anne’s became viral on social media when word got around that Jakim rejected its halal certification application over technical issues and the word “dog” in its menu.
Jakim recommended that it change “Pretzel Dog” to “Pretzel Sausage” in order to gain halal certification in October 2016.
No happiness in Walls’ Ice Cream
One of the popular ice cream manufacturer’s products angered some Malaysians in May this year. It was called Golden Gaytime.
According to Sinar Harian, Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) activist Nadzim Johan demanded an explanation for the use of the word “gay”.
The slogan “Delicious Chances To Have A Gay Time!” printed on the packaging only added fuel to the fire.
It seems some people have forgotten that “gay” is just another word for “happy”.
The wombat wobble
On July 6 in 2015, a billboard advertisement featuring a wombat was removed at the Jalan Bukit Bintang-Jalan Pudu intersection after the image was mistaken as being that of a pig.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall removed the advertisement but KL mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib afterwards agreed that it was a wombat, a marsupial native to Australia.
He said an irresponsible person perceived it as a pig and spread false rumours on the internet and a social media storm hit the country after a screenshot of the ad went viral.
The advertisement was described as a “pig wearing songkok and baju Melayu while accompanied by a Selamat Hari Raya greeting”.
The wombat was later said to be the mascot of Servcorp, an Australian-based company offering serviced offices in the region.
Power Rangers fall from up high
Who would have thought the word “morphin” would be linked to morphine?
According to a Reuters report on Dec 22 in 1995, the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was axed as authorities feared the use of the word “morphin” could negatively influence children who may associate it to the narcotic.
However, a spokesman for RTM was quoted as saying the programme would be allowed on air if the word “morphin” was removed.