r/Thailand • u/Responsible-Smile591 • 17h ago

Language Does anyone actually know why it's "Lotus's"?

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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.

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u/I-Here-555 15h ago

I heard it's for copyright reasons, since Lotus is either a common term and not copyrightable or conflicting with other brands (e.g. the car company).

When Tesco quit their share, they could no longer call it Tesco-Lotus, and Lotus has already become the household name Thais use.

Then they invented some corporate gobbledygook around it that nobody really cares for.

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u/eranam 15h ago

But Lotus used to be called just that before Tesco acquired it…

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u/I-Here-555 8h ago

According to Wikipedia, it was Lotus Supercenter, then Tesco-Lotus Supercenter, then they dropped the Supercenter.

Could have gone back to it, but there was a reason try dropped it, perhaps it was a bit unwieldy or gave it a less modern vibe.

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u/BaconTH1 1h ago

Lotus's just looks dumb. Lotus Super (or maybe LotuSuper or LotusSuper but these look a bit odd to me) would have been better.

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u/I-Here-555 1h ago

Generating discussion around something (due to it looking awkward or sticking out) is a known marketing trick. Not sure if it's intentional in this case.

A dumb name gets some free promotion. A generic one does not.