KEY POINTS:
In France a security firm glories in the name Maori Group, oblivious probably to the consternation it has caused at the highest levels of the New Zealand Government.
The Maori Party this week labelled the brand adoption "shameless" and "an absolute affront to our intellectual and cultural property rights", and the Prime Minister said, "This is one of many examples of international business exploiting indigenous culture to promote their own products and services."
She is right. The names of native American tribes and chiefs have been favoured for motorcycles and lawn mowers for some reason. But does it matter? Do we think anything less of the Shawnee chief Tecumseh because his name has been appropriated for a very good two-stroke motor? Do we suffer because very many Europeans think Kiwi is boot polish?
Or would these people never have recognised the term if an unrelated product had not made it familiar to them? They readily transfer that familiarity to us when they discover how we identify ourselves.
Jealous guardians of an ethnic identity ought to be careful what they wish for. Commerce abhors controversy and it might be easier than many imagine to scare the French firm. The PM need not look to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, on whose committee NZ sits; she need only ensure her protests are heard in France.
But think what would be lost. In the big wide world there are not many indigenous minorities whose name and image would be well enough known to be adopted, however crassly, on the other side of the globe.
Maori could take pride in the security firm's explanation it wanted a rugby association, a known warrior heritage and an image of tough, rustic strength. It's the firm that will suffer if it cannot live up to the name.
