[NFP] Corporation Product Name References

[fy00sh]

After compiling a list of all the possible product names for each luxury in the Monopolies & Corporations Mode, I realized I don't know all the references being made in the names, and it might be a pain to look them all up, so I figured I'd make this thread where people could share the references they picked up on. (^_^)

Here's the list for reference:

Spoiler Product Names :

Spoiler Citrus :

Tree-Fresh Orange Juice
No-Scurv Lime Juice
Summertime Supplements
Imperial Cross Marmalade
Meier's Oven Baking Supplies

Spoiler Cocoa :

Fugilin Dark Chocolate Bars
Whizzo's Choco-Mix
Heidi's Alpine Hot Chocolate Mix
Xocolatl Spiced Drinking Chocolate
Island Dream Cocoa Butter Lotion

Spoiler Coffee :

Game Designer Fuel Coffee
Neurologically Unsafe Instant Coffee
Kaffa Harrar Roast Coffee
Sopranzetti Espresso
Tampuan Roastery Cold Brew

Spoiler Cotton :

Rugged Hill Jeans
Mahendradatta Batik
Fluffy Sheep Linens
Sur-Dry Diapers
Westford Textiles

Spoiler Diamonds :

Blown Eardrum Speakers
Suvanna Gemstones
Lacero Drill Bits
Infrasound Audio Tech
Monolith All-Consuming Mining Equipment

Spoiler Dyes :

Litham Indigo
King's Scarlet Dyes
Monochrome Colors
Food Dye Red #5
Dai-Iro Industrial Paints

Spoiler Furs :

Arctic Moon Fashions
Marie Antoinette Headwear
Lord Steven's Stovepipe Hats
Mercury Haberdashery
Elysium Angora Yarns

Spoiler Gypsum :

Colossus Construction Supplies
Svadilfari Masonry Supplies
Titanic Construction Materials
Demeter Growth Chemicals
Atlas Insulated Building Material

Spoiler Incense :

Nag Champa
Phra-jan Dara Sandalwood Aromas
Franks Incense
Love Potion #8
Stink Destroyer Air Freshener

Spoiler Ivory :

Hattori Hanzo Hilts
Bertie Wooster's Billiard Balls
Aana Ivory Fashions
Xiangya Fashions
Tickle Piano Keys

Spoiler Jade :

Hongshan Luxury
Immortal Beauty Jade
Nuwang
Pearl Delta
Savannakhet

Spoiler Marble :

Augustine Marble Finishing
Alabaster Masonry
No-Burp Antacid
Attila's Scouring Powder
Morte Monoliths

Spoiler Mercury :

Sur-Read Thermometers
Martine Dependable Thermometers
Centennial Light Bulbs
Metalhead Brain Wires
Fire Axis Thermostats

Spoiler Pearls :

Night Tide Baubles
Setesuyara Cosmetics
Aunt Enid's Clutching Pearls
String of Stars Necklaces
Merrow Case Oysters

Spoiler Salt :

Waimanalo Huli Huli Chicken Spice
Adder's Tongue Medical Supply
Mom's Pickling Supplies
Keep-it-Down Preservative
Flayvur Seasoning

Spoiler Silk :

Atas Luxury Textiles
Saratsawadi Medical Supply
Far North Field Medical Supply
Hung Vuong Fine Fabrics
Dock 2 Living Decor

Spoiler Silver :

Dark of the Moon Silver Jewelry
Fadaka Designs
Megastorm Microcontrollers
Connecto Precision Switches
Unforgettable Photography

Spoiler Spices :

Archipelago Nutmeg
Pueblo Kitchen Chili Powder
Gondavana Cinnamon
East Indies Nutmeg
Volcano Chili Sauce

Spoiler Sugar :

Mama Theresa's Baking Sugar
Bubba Mubba Bubble Gum
Rock's Penny Candy
Sucro-Cola
Ed Teach's Homestyle Molasses

Spoiler Tea :

Saratsawati Chai
Sea Urchin Green Tea
First Flush White Tea
Asa-no-Sencha
Sun-Never-Sets Tea

Spoiler Tobacco :

Mountain Fresh Cigarettes
Coughing Cowboy Cigarettes
Petit Dictator Cigars
Burnt Bourbon Flavored Tobacco
Stockholm Snuff

Spoiler Truffles :

Boar's Bounty Truffles
Abydos Truffle Oil
Pig Snout Truffles
Autumn Twilight
Sniffing Pig Artisinal Eats

Spoiler Wine :

Del Sol Malbec
Kvevris Saperavi
L'Ombre Cabernet
Villa Scintillante Prosecco
Grunental Sekt

Spoiler Amber :

Griffin's Plume
Tsarskoye Ambers
Namsai Perfume
Jurassic Gems Amber
Fragrant Sheep Perfume

Spoiler Olives :

Kalamata Dream Olive Oil
Byzantine Dawn Olive Oil
No-Granny Youth Preserving Cream
Face-Off Facial Restorer
Martinese Pickled Olives

Spoiler Honey :

Late Summer Pure Honey
Nature's Hive Royal Jelly
Whanganui Manuka Honey
Abe's Apis Probiotics
Royal Buzz Pollinators

Spoiler Turtles :

Mary Shelly Eyeglass Frames
Palawan Shores Hair Accessories
Wujin Beauty Supplies
Gulinggao Turtle Jelly
Lord McConnell's Decidedly Not Mock Turtle Soup

Spoiler Whales :

Melville's Plenty Lamp Oil
Moldywarp's Ambrosia
Whalebarf Ambergris
Ishmael's Lamp Oil
Kujirasan's Lubricants

To start, here's what I have figured out:
Cocoa
"Fugilin Dark Chocolate Bars" - Pretty sure the first word is supposed to be "fuligin", a hypothetical color darker than black. Maybe it was spelled "fugilin" to also reference fudge? Not sure about this one
"Xocolatl Spiced Drinking Chocolate" - "Xocolatl" is the native Nahuatl name for chocolate (which is where we get the word "chocolate" from), and in precolumbian Mesoamerica chocolate was often had as a spiced drink
Dyes
"Food Dye Red #5" - Almost certain this is referencing FD&C Red No. 2, the red dye that was banned by the United States FDA in 1976 for being a probable carcinogen, notably putting red M&M's out of commission for a decade
Mercury
"Fire Axis Thermostats" - Shameless pun on "Firaxis". Also a thermometer is a stick (usually) which measures heat, and thus a "fire axis"... kinda
Sugar
"Mubba Bubba Bubble Gum" - Probably referencing Dubble Bubble bubble gum
edit: @SeelingCat pointed out it's more likely a reference to Hubba Bubba bubble gum
Tobacco
"Stockholm Snuff" - Tobacco is both highly addictive and carcinogenic, thus you could say that tobacco users suffer from a sort of Stockholm syndrome, a contested illness where hostages grow attached to their captors
Turtles
"Gulinggao Turtle Jelly" - "Gulinggao" is a misspelling of guilinggao, a very expensive Chinese medicine/dessert traditionally made from herbs and a paste of the bottom shell of a three-lined box turtle
"Lord McConnell's Decidedly Not Mock Turtle Soup" - This one's like 50% of the reason why I made this thread, just because I wanna know if I'm right to assume that this is a reference to current US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell? Lots of people mock him by saying he looks like a turtle, and there's a pretty popular picture of him in a cauldron with the caption "when life gives you turtles, make turtle soup".
Whales
"Ishmael's Lamp Oil" - Ishmael is the narrator in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, where Captain Ahab hunts down a whale named Moby Dick to get revenge for it biting his leg off

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Citrus: No-Scurv Lime Juice: Citruses are a source of Vitamin C, which prevents Scurvy, a disease associated mostly with the teeth.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Scurvy, a disease associated mostly with the teeth.

And the British navy. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

 

[8housesofelixir]

Amber - Tsarskoye Ambers: "Tsarskoye" means "Tsar's", likely a reference to the famous Amber Room of Imperial Russia.

Jade - Hongshan Luxury: The Neolithic Hongshan culture is famous for its jadewares, one of the earliest in the world.

Olive - Byzantine Dawn Olive Oil: Likely a reference to the rich olive productions in Mediterranean.

Tea - Asa-no-Sencha: Japanese for 朝の煎茶, means "sencha in the morning".

Tea - Sun-Never-Sets Tea: Very obvious.

Turtles - Mary Shelly Eyeglass Frames: A pun on "Mary Shelley" and "(turtle) shell".

Whale - Kujirasan's Lubricants: "Kujirasan" means "Mr. Whale" (クジラさん) in Japanese.

Whale - Melville's Plenty Lamp Oil: Herman Melville is the author of Moby Dick.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Summertime Supplements - probably a reference to stuff like Emergen-C
Heidi's Alpine Hot Chocolate Mix - Swiss Miss hot chocolate
Westford Textiles - probably some reference to the English cotton industry in the 1800s
King's Scarlet Dyes - Red is traditionally hard color to make dyes for and limited to royalty and the super rich for a long time.
Arctic Moon Fashions - maybe the three wolf moon shirt?
Franks Incense - frankincense
Augustine Marble Finishing - Augustus was said to have turned Rome from a city of brick to a city of marble
Sur-Read Thermometers - "sure read" as in always readable/right
Aunt Enid's Clutching Pearls - pearl clutching
Unforgettable Photography - silver nitrate and other silver products used to be used photo development
East Indies Nutmeg - various East and West Indies companies used to have trade monopolies on spices
Asa-no-Sencha - literally "morning green tea" in Japanese (朝の煎茶)
Sun-Never-Sets Tea - British love tea and had an empire the sun never set on
Pig Snout Truffles, Sniffing Pig Artisinal Eats, Boar's Bounty Truffles - pigs are traditionally used to find truffles
Jurassic Gems Amber - Jurassic Park reference
Kalamata Dream Olive Oil - Kalamata is a type of olive
Face-Off Facial Restorer - a reference to the John Woo film?
Mary Shelly Eyeglass Frames - Mary Shelly is the writer of Frankenstein but I don't what it would referencing
Whalebarf Ambergris - ambergris can be used in perfume making and comes from whale stomachs
Kujirasan's Lubricants - Kujira (鯨) is Japanese for whale and kujirasan means Mr./Ms./Mrs. Whale

"Lord McConnell's Decidedly Not Mock Turtle Soup" - This one's like 50% of the reason why I made this thread, just because I wanna know if I'm right to assume that this is a reference to current US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell? Lots of people mock him by saying he looks like a turtle, and there's a pretty popular picture of him in a cauldron with the caption "when life gives you turtles, make turtle soup".

I so want this to be true but I doubt it's intentional on a company level and would have to have been snuck in somehow.

 

[fy00sh]

Whale - Melville's Plenty Lamp Oil: Herman Melville is the author of Moby Dick.

Oh! That combined with "Ishmael's Lamp Oil" could be a further reference to how early critics of Moby-Dick didn't distinguish between Ishmael (narrator) and Melville (author), but later critics did.

From the first paragraph of Wikipedia's article on Ishmael:

Ishmael plays a minor role in the plot, however, and early critics of Moby-Dick assumed that Captain Ahab is the protagonist. Many either confused Ishmael with Melville or overlooked the role he played. Later critics distinguished Ishmael from Melville, and some saw his mystic and speculative consciousness as the novel's central force rather Captain Ahab's monomaniacal force of will.

 

[SeelingCat]

Sugar
"Mubba Bubba Bubble Gum" - Probably referencing Dubble Bubble bubble gum

I think this might refer more to Hubba Bubba bubble gum potentially

 

[fy00sh]

I think this might refer more to Hubba Bubba bubble gum potentially

true! updated the OP

 

[Luxerne]

Abe's Apis Probiotics is probably a reference to Burt's Bees personal care.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Meier's Oven Baking Supplies - Meyer lemons and Sid Meier
Game Designer Fuel Coffee, Neurologically Unsafe Instant Coffee - caffeine reference
Lacero Drill Bits, Monolith All-Consuming Mining Equipment - industrial use drill bits are tipped with diamonds
Dai-Iro Industrial Paints - could mean something like "big color" (大色) or "machine paint" (台色) in Japanese, most likely the first
Colossus Construction Supplies, Svadilfari Masonry Supplies, Titanic Construction Materials, Atlas Insulated Building Material - gypsum is a common material used in construction
Hattori Hanzo Hilts - famous samurai, swords have hilts
Tickle Piano Keys - white piano keys are called ivory
Mom's Pickling Supplies - pickling salt
Keep-it-Down Preservative - salt cured foods
Ed Teach's Homestyle Molasses - Ed Beach, a designer on the game, likes molasses?
First Flush White Tea - caffeine is a diuretic, so maybe its a reference to that?
Petit Dictator Cigars - Cuba cigars? No idea if any of the 20th century Cuban dictators were short though


This has been really fun, so thanks for starting the thread.

Edit:
"Petit Dictator Cigars" - the more I think about this the funnier it gets and I have no idea why. Now I want Little Corporal Wines.

 

[8housesofelixir]

Gypsum - Svadilfari Masonry Supplies: Svaðilfari is the horse in Norse Mythology who helped to build a high wall around Asgard, therefore the "masonry supplies".

Furs - Marie Antoinette Headwear: Well...

Ivory - Hattori Hanzo Hilts: Refers to the character Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill who is a swordmaster. Guess some of the swords he made in the movie has ivory hilts?
(Very unlikely refers to the historical Hattori Hanzo who was not a swordmaster anyway and doesn't have any famous swords attributed to him - the historical Hanzo was a specialist on spears and used several spears as main weapon).

 

[Josephias]

Come on, I do not believe nobody mentioned these yet:

Citrus: Meier’s oven baking supplies - ¿someone might be well known for citrus-scented pastry?

Furs: Marie Antoniette Headwear - it will be surely luxurious, but difficult to keep it on.

Ivory: Hattori Hanzo Hilts - best on your Katana/Kodachi

Marble: Attila’s Scouring Powder - when the scourge of god reduces it all to dust, it’s time to clean up.

... there’s more, but little time to continue before going to work

 

[InsidiousMage]

Ivory - Hattori Hanzo Hilts: Refers to the character Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill who is a swordmaster. Guess some of the swords he made in the movie has ivory hilts?
(Very unlikely refers to the historical Hattori Hanzo who was not a swordmaster anyway and doesn't have any famous swords attributed to him - the historical Hanzo was a specialist on spears and used several spears as main weapon).

Cool, I never finished the first film and I'm not super well versed on historical samurai.

Ed Teach's Homestyle Molasses - Alternatively, and much more likely, Ed Teach is the real name of the pirate Blackbeard and molasses is used to make rum.

 

[fy00sh]

Some more I've come up with:
Tobacco
Unless there's something else I'm missing, I'm pretty sure Mountain Fresh Cigarettes, Coughing Cowboy Cigarettes, and Burnt Bourbon Flavored Tobacco are all just joking about how tobacco smells/tastes horrible and is bad for your lungs. Also "Coughing Cowboy Cigarettes" reminds me of this smiley:
Ivory
Xiangya Fashions - xiàngyá (象牙) is just Chinese for "ivory/elephant tusk"
Jade
Nuwang - From the Chinese word nǚwáng (女王) meaning "queen", couldn't find any further reference being made tho. I'm certain pretty sure it's the Chinese word tho, I checked the Chinese localized name in the game files and that's how they translated it. (more on that file below)
Marble
No-Burp Antacid - Apparently marble (at least sometimes?) is made of calcium carbonate, which is used in antacids and calcium supplements
Turtle
Wujin Beauty Supplies - Didn't know at first if the "Wujin" was supposed to be 五金 (wǔjīn, "metal hardware" or "the five metals, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin") or 无尽 (wújìn, "limitless"), so I checked the Chinese localization and it's translated as the second one (limitless). Still don't know if there's a reference I'm missing. edit2: apparently the chinese localization is really bad, might still be "five metals"

By the way, if anyone else wants to check the various localizations of all these names, you can go into the game's files and navigate to DLC > KublaiKhan_Vietnam > Text and open the file KublaiKhan_Vietnam_Translations_Text_MODE.xml (if you open it in Notepad you'll see the pure text of the file).

ALSO, if you wanted to change the names of any of these products, I'm pretty sure (but not at all certain) you could do so by directly editing that file if you're playing in a language other than English, and if you're playing in English, you could go to DLC > KublaiKhan_Vietnam > Text > en_US and then edit the file KublaiKhan_Vietnam_Monopolies_Text_MODE.xml by replacing some name with one you prefer (I might try out adding Boston Harbor Party Tea when I play the new mode). Adding a new entry may or may not work, the game might only check for entries 1-5 or maybe it'll check all entries if you add more, or maybe it'll just crash.

edit: i should mention that if you do try to edit one of those files I'd recommend you keep a backup unedited version of the file in case it does make the game crash.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Jade
Nuwang - From the Chinese word nǚwáng (女王) meaning "queen", couldn't find any further reference being made tho.

Was jade ever restricted to royalty? Seems like it could be a reference to something like that.

 

[8housesofelixir]

I checked the Chinese localized name in the game files and that's how they translated it.

so I checked the Chinese localization and it's translated as the second one (limitless).

To be fair, the Chinese localization of Civ Vi is notoriously bad; there is even a "Better Chinese Localization" mod in the Steam Workshop.

Not to say in these two localization cases they are wrong, but IMO referring the Chinese localization is probably not an ideal way for finding references.

 

[Uberfrog]

Stockholm Snuff is more likely a reference to snus, a type of tobacco powder you place inside your lip. It’s still popular in Scandinavia.

 

[Lord Lakely]

Ed Teach's Homestyle Molasses - Ed Beach, a designer on the game, likes molasses?

Ed Teach is Blackbeard's real name. Molasses is black, so...

 

[Uberfrog]

Ed Teach is Blackbeard's real name. Molasses is black, so...

Blackstrap is a type of extra-refined molasses so maybe there’s a flimsy Blackbeard / blackstrap pun going on?

 

[Lord Lakely]

Blackstrap is a type of extra-refined molasses so maybe there’s a flimsy Blackbeard / blackstrap pun going on?

On top of the Ed Beach/Ed Teach pun? Why certainly.