{"id":2671,"date":"2018-09-29T02:30:03","date_gmt":"2018-09-29T02:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/bula-fiji-fights-us-bars-trademark-on-a-national-greeting\/"},"modified":"2018-09-29T02:30:03","modified_gmt":"2018-09-29T02:30:03","slug":"bula-fiji-fights-us-bars-trademark-on-a-national-greeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/bula-fiji-fights-us-bars-trademark-on-a-national-greeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Bula! Fiji fights US bar’s trademark on a national greeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The cafe and bars go big on selling the island vibe
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Fiji is fighting back against a company in the US that’s trademarked its national greeting “Bula”, saying it was “tone-deaf and wrong”. <\/p>\n

The trademark has been registered by a chain of bars and cafes in Florida which among other things serve kava, a mildly narcotic drink popular across Fiji and other Pacific island nations. <\/p>\n

Bula is a common Fijian greeting with a much wider cultural significance. <\/p>\n

Fiji says the move amounts to a “blatant case of heritage-highjacking”.<\/p>\n

“We would never give permission for anyone – particularly someone outside of Fiji looking to profit – to effectively claim ownership of ‘bula’, a word so deeply-rooted in our national identity that it has become synonymous with Fiji,” Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told Radio New Zealand. <\/p>\n

“The idea that a single person could control the use of a word so dear to the hearts of Fijians is offensive, it is tone-deaf, and it is wrong,” he said, adding his government would “fight this trademark with every power international law affords”.<\/p>\n

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What’s in a greeting? <\/h2>\n

Pronounced “boolah” and always said with enthusiasm, bula literally means life, but is most commonly used as something akin to “hello” – like the Hawaiian word “aloha”. <\/p>\n

Used as a greeting it is like wishing a person a good life. If you say it twice, it means health. <\/p>\n

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\n The ‘bula’ greeting is a much-loved symbol of Fijians’ laid-back hospitality
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It’s also used in the word for hospital and is even part of the Biblical term for messiah. <\/p>\n

In order to promote tourism, the country has even coined the phrase Bula Spirit as a marketing slogan.<\/p>\n

It’s exactly what many people associate with Fiji. It is also associated with kava, a traditional drink across most Southern Pacific islands – saying “bula” is a central to the ceremony of kava-drinking.<\/p>\n

Just a regular trademark?<\/h2>\n

Bula Nation, a bar chain in Florida, is aiming to capture some of the island vibe in the word bula for its three bars.<\/p>\n

And last year, owner Ross Kashtan sought to trademark the name in the US, and succeeded. <\/p>\n

The bars also specialise in kava, the mildly intoxicating brew, made from roots, which is part of traditional rituals and gatherings on the Pacific islands. <\/p>\n

Naturally, it’s also popular with tourists and likely a good sell at a laid back beach bar in Florida. <\/p>\n

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\n Preparing and drinking kava is a community bonding ritual across Fiji
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‘They should have asked’<\/h2>\n

Protecting the brand name is something most businesses would do, to prevent a rival bula bar popping up next door. But the move has enraged Fijians.<\/p>\n

“It’s a matter of respect,” Fijian academic Tarisi Vunidilo at Hawaii University told the BBC. <\/p>\n

She started a petition, accusing the owner of the business of cultural appropriation for purely commercial purposes. <\/p>\n