The owner of a new Vietnamese bistro in Rosemère, which offers its PHO’S Grosses Boules shooters or its Flash Thé Saints cocktail, is 100% responsible for its marketing strategy even if a French-speaking organization is screaming scandalous.
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Even the name of the restaurant, Pho King Bon, which has been open since Saturday, can raise eyebrows. A shooter is called Lichi MWA LKU (“Liche-moi le cul”), while the drinks Pho Kyu (fuck you) and Pho Kme (fuck me) as well as the Big Jo-Anis shooters or the Tonkinese soup PhoKit (fuck it ) are on the menu.
“I have no embarrassment with that, it’s just humor a la Mike Ward”, immediately launches Guillaume Boutin, 41, co-owner of the restaurant.
“I find that very funny,” said Nakeshia Morissette, a young client.
“You have to expect to be a little surprised when you see the name of the restaurant,” explained Danielle Gaudreault, who was trying the restaurant for the first time. It also announces surprising things on the menu. ”
The restaurateur admits, however, that there are puns that could, for example, insult women.
“But it is not done in that sense, he defends himself. I checked with waitresses and other women, including a feminist friend, to see if the puns were too deep. ”
Mr. Boutin instead said that a man whined that it was insulting. “Another man said we were making dirty puns, but it’s one in 1000,” he added.
“Our food (Guillaume Boutin’s personal recipes) is very popular and the restaurant is full all the time,” said the self-taught cook who has never studied cooking. Vietnamese have told me that they no longer need to go to Montreal to eat Vietnamese. ”
Photo Agency QMI, Simon Dessureault
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Jean-Paul Perreault, president of Impératif français, an organization for the defense and promotion of the French language, does not really intend to laugh with this concept, however.
“It’s scatological (which has to do with excrement) in a way,” said nothing less Mr. Perreault, when referring to the shooter Lichi MWA LKU. This irritating pun is not in any language after all. ”
Mr. Perreault is also outraged that children of all ages can see these word games.
“A 14-year-old can read these words on the menu, but I’m sure he’s said them before in his life probably since he was 10,” said the owner.
Mr. Perreault also believes that the enterprise register has surely missed the opportunity to fulfill its role, whereas any business name must be approved in collusion with the Office de la langue française.
Guillaume Boutin had permission to register this name with the Business Register.
“There must be French in the name,” explains the entrepreneur. The word King is the only one that goes against the French language, but the name King is a title, so that’s correct. “
And it is correct for the word Pho because it is a name of dish, always according to Guillaume Boutin. The word designates a Tonkinese soup. It is also the Vietnamese national dish.
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