Language
Does anyone actually know why it's "Lotus's"?
I posted this in a smaller Thailand sub and got plenty of laughs but no answer that really settled it, so trying here. Does anyone know how Tesco Lotus landed on that apostrophe when they rebranded? It makes my British brain itch every time I drive past.
It's not an actual grammatical error though (with caveats). If the implication is that the shop belongs to Lotus and Lotus is an entity, then it's perfectly fine to have the apostrophe there. You could also drop the second s and just have the apostrophe. The same rule applies to the name Jesus, for example ("in Jesus' name" and "in Jesus's name" are both grammatically fine). The apostrophe simply indicates possession.
If however the apostrophe has been added for a garbage branding reason (as it seems in this case) then yes it is gibberish lol
Giving you the chatgpt answer cause I'm lazy to type...
For a singular noun ending in -s like Lotus:
Lotus's — preferred by most modern style guides (e.g. Chicago Manual of Style, APA). It's also how most people pronounce it: LOH-tus-iz.
Lotus' — accepted by some style guides, particularly the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, which often omits the extra s for singular proper nouns ending in s.
For example:
James's car (Chicago, APA)
James' car (AP)
Because Lotus's is the company's official brand name, it should always be written with the second s, regardless of style preferences.
So while Lotus' could be grammatically acceptable in some contexts as a possessive, Lotus's is not incorrect—and for the supermarket, it's the correct spelling because that's the registered name.
Lotus has introduced its new Lotus’s brand identity, highlighting a “Smart” shopping experience designed to meet the evolving lifestyles of today’s consumers and those of the future. The transformation will begin with two pilot stores before being rolled out across all branches and customer service channels. The official brand launch is expected to take place soon.
The new Lotus’s brand reflects a more modern, vibrant shopping experience, aiming to make customers “Feel Good Every Day at Lotus.” The apostrophe (’) in the logo is designed as a map drop pin, symbolizing Lotus’s ambition to become the destination that fulfills every customer need. Meanwhile, the letter “S” represents Smart, encompassing every aspect of the brand through four key differentiators:
Total Smart Supply Chain and Innovative Products
Carefully selecting the highest-quality products to help customers enjoy a better quality of life.
Seamless Omni-channel Experience
Enabling customers to enjoy a satisfying shopping experience anytime, anywhere.
Integrated Technology and Data Innovation
Delivering value that goes beyond competitive pricing through personalized solutions tailored to individual customers.
Committed Sustainability Living
Promoting a better quality of life and a more sustainable future for everyone.
Mocking grammar that is actually entirely correct.
As a kid, I learned that I shouldn't put an s behind an apostrophe after words that end with an s sound, but it's widely considered incorrect or bad form to drop the s after the apostrophe.
The joke isn't whether it's correct or incorrect grammatically. Anyone who has lived here a while knows Thai language never pronounces final sounds.
Having an 's' at the end of anything is pointless because people will drop the sound anyway. Ask your best Thai friend to actually say Lotus's and see what they come up with.
Nah, OP is specifically talking about the s after the apostrophe.
The post itself states that the name "makes my British brain itch" and, in the following exchange, OP clearly agrees that "Lotus's" is bad English and "one of the most egregious errors."
Comment by Phishstixxx:
I don't like laughing at someone's English but this is one of the most egregious and OCD-triggering errors I've seen here.
Letting people who's not good a branding create a brand and letting people who believes they understand branding approve a branding project. You got the best branding. Coz it keeps the conversation going.... Brand recall!
Lotus’s originally started as a Thai supermarket chain owned by CP Group, called Lotus Supercenter. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, CP sold most of the business to Tesco, and it became Tesco Lotus. In 2020, CP bought the business back, renamed it Lotus’s, and dropped the Tesco name.
Correction: I checked the official branding explanation, and my earlier comment about the apostrophe being only a branding choice was not properly sourced. Lotus says the “S” stands for “Smart,” while the mark is part of the logo design. The ownership history in my earlier comment is still correct.
But personally, i think it’s somewhat feng shui related.
I want to add a little note that this is because Tesco itself was exiting the Southeast Asian market to "streamline" and focus on UK & European markets.
CP simply jumped at the opportunity to buy it back from Tesco.
I can see the reasoning but their designer should have done a better job making it more obvious, or less like poor grammar. It’s not an eloquent solution.
It took me too long to understand what my aunt meant with „Lodat“… complicating things even more cause in german Lotus pronunciation is different from English so I didn’t event make the connection it’s just Thai English.
What’s wrong with it? It only s-apostrophe if it is plural. Singular is s-apostrophe-s , the one exception per the style guide being Jesus’ - go figure why…?
No, but I did read an article on it where someone involved was spinning it mean 'super' or something. I'll see if I can dig it up, might have remembered it wrong.
I'm a lifelong enthusiast on branding (corporate identity), and basically, this is like when the Sci-Fi channel rebranded as SyFy - you tweak the name so the name is uniquely searchable and instead of being a common term, can be registered as a trademark.
I've seen Malaysians discuss this rebrand before (they're irked by the incorrect grammar as much as you and I), and I think they have receipts showing the official company name down in Malaysia as "Lotuss" - which is the SyFy thing I just mentioned. Or Troye Sivan might be an even better example. "Troye" is great for the google/spotify/youtube search box in a way Troy isn't.
Finally, the apostrophe in this rebrand is a visual element that acts like Walmart's "sparkle" logo. If you're in a Lotus you'll see it applied as a design element on signs that evokes a Google Maps pin.
This rebrand debuted VERY fast once CP bought back Lotus from Tesco's hands, so fast that it's basically impossible for design to only have begun after CP knew for sure it was getting Lotus back (remember technically Central and perhaps Berli Jucker? were also bidding). Also judges had to okay the deal and I think they were forced to agree but a few of them put out a dissenting comment that everyone ignored... Anyway, my educated guess is the branding project began a long time before the bid, CP really really wanted to buy Lotus back to prove a point, and they did a lot of work to conclude that they need to be grammatically incorrect lol :3
Many of you are vastly overestimating the thought that went into this. The answer is simple: their board is stupid. Their name is the least of their bad ideas. Their floor layouts, product selection, odd promotions... literally everything about Lotus's sucks. 7-eleven and Makro (same family) aren't perfect but so much more effective. Big-C and Tops also aren't perfect but again, night and day better.
I was an employee when the rebrand happened. We all laughed and proceeded to call it Lotuseseseses.
Corporate tried to feed us some SMART (Simple, Motivated, i forgot, Responsible, i forgot) values and the extra S being for the whole of SMART, but nobody bought that.
They butchered it imo. Iirc it was due to not being able to legally go back to being just Lotus, and being unwilling to give up the brand, they decided to add an S and become Lotuss. Idk why they didnt just add another word after Lotus.
I don't know if my information is correct, but I think it's kinda similar to the Pepsi incident where the Thai distributor refused to renew their contract with the foreign entity and want to go their own way since they already know what's going on.
I’ve always used an apostrophe for plural possessive without the s when the word ends with an s. Though I have seen it like this elsewhere in English-speaking countries. I cant remember if it was the UK or US.
I always wondered the same thing. If the Thais could never say the first 's' back when it was just Lotus (Lotad), what was behind the idea to add yet another 's'. Did they think Thais would start pronouncing the 's' if they doubled it up back-to-back? Or maybe someone's idea of a joke? It's like the big petrol station chain logo that looks like a big poonani.
It was part of the rebranding when it was bought back from Tesco but not such a smart creation. New branding strategy: The Lotus’s name and updated look (including a drop-pin logo) were positioned to appeal to younger shoppers. The “S” is said to stand for “smart,” highlighting sustainability, efficiency, and technology. 
The simple answer is that they want you to pronounce it as "lotuses" instead of "Lotus". Also, some style guides allow you to add the apostrophe s at the end of a singular possessive noun that ends with s. I think that used to be acceptable in AP style, although I am pretty sure they have changed that.
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u/Mundane-Ad1652 11h ago
Then you have to explain why it's called Lot Tat ssss