There's a short word starting with 'c' that in Australia can attract fines of AU$10,000 to 50,000 if used for a certain product...and one Australian news presenter who, after having used this c-word on a morning TV show 📺, drew so much backlash from the Australian public that she was forced to make a grovelling on-air apology saying her use of the word “is a great sin”. 😠
Do you know what this c-word is?...
Of course, it's 'cookie'. 🍪
I bet you weren't expecting that (OK, the photo might have given it away).
🚨 There was the occasion where two of my Australian localisation colleagues had to raise this very issue with a US client planning on releasing a product it described as 'cookies' for the Australian market. We requested visuals of the product in question, and gave appropriate warnings on why such a move could be a disastrous choice for the client.
🥮 Like in the UK and most other Commonwealth countries, Australia uses the term 'biscuit' for what the dictionary describes as "a small, baked, unleavened cake, typically crisp, flat and sweet". Aussies affectionately call them 'bikkies'. These cover Tim Tams, Mint Slices, Iced VoVos, all classic Aussie bikkies, but call these 'cookies' and then be prepared to face the ire and virtual pitchforks of the Australian public. 🔱
🍪 Aussies are exposed to the term 'cookie' at an early age thanks primarily to Sesame Street's Cookie Monster, and since the 1990s 'cookie' in Australia primarily describes large, round and individually sold shortbreads (like what is sold at Ben's Cookies in the UK).
🇦🇺 However, Australia's very patriotic Anzac biscuit is also large, round and individually sold... does that make it a cookie?
Don't even think about it!!! ⛔
👆 Advertising Anzac biscuits as 'cookies' (like I've seen in some "Aussie-style" cafes in the UK – shame!) in Australia attracts the above fines according to Australian Federal Department of Veteran Affairs guidelines. And guess who had the nerve to call Anzac biscuits 'cookies' on air? Yes, that later repentant newsreader.
🔃 What happens with localisation is often what seems the most mundane and random can be the most controversial. It's very easy to dismiss something like this as some over-reaction, but localisers have the best interests of your product and service in mind. They know their market and its weird quirks, so do take their advice no matter how trivial, as no one wants to end up giving an on-air apology for something completely avoidable.
If you're wanting to avoid a cookie-gate scenario and have your text and copy just right for Australia, talk to me! I'll make you sure you're on the right path. Email me at info@nicknasev.com and let's chat!
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