[NFP] Corporation Product Name References

[Josephias]

Some more I've come up with:
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"

Googled this and found Wujin is also a district in Changzhou, and Changzhou combs are remarkable. However, altough carey shells were used for comb manufacturing, it seems Changzhou ones are mostly wood, so it is probably a misguided guess.

 

[Sagax]

Hattori Hanzo Hilts - famous samurai, swords have hilts

Strictly speaking, the historical Hattori Hanzo was more known/labeled as a ninja, not a samurai. And if we go down the historical route, swords aren't that heavily featured in ninja culture.

What I think is a more likely reference here is the swordsmith Hattori Hanzo from Kill Bill. Or a double reference, which is even better.

 

[8housesofelixir]

Strictly speaking, the historical Hattori Hanzo was a ninja, not a samurai. And if we go down the historical route, swords aren't that heavily featured in ninja culture. What I think is a more likely reference here is the swordsmith Hattori Hanzo from Kill Bill.

Strictly speaking, the historical Hattori Hanzo - or, let's go with his actual name, Hattori Masanari - was actually a samurai. He was born from a typical samurai clan, let regular armies into various battles, and had the nickname of "Spear Hanzo" (槍の半蔵), which, as you can tell, the weapon he was skilled with is not a weapon a ninja/shinobi would use.

Masanari was being remembered as a ninja/shinobi in popular culture largely because he was the military official in charge of the Iga Shinobi groups under Tokugawa - imagine he is the head official of MI6 or DIA - which didn't necessarily mean he was a ninja/shinobi himself.

Still, I agree that the Hattori Hanzo reference here is very likely from Kill Bill.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Couple things.

Stockholm Snuff is a reference to Copenhagen Chewing Tobacco. Coughing Cowboy cigarettes are a reference to the Marlboro Man, a cowboy mascot of Marlboro Cigarettes.

 

[Sagax]

Coffee
Kaffa Harrar Roast Coffee - Kaffa and Harrar are cities in Ethiopia. Ethiopia being coffee's birthplace.

Incense
Love Potion #8 - Reference to "Love Potion No.9", a movie that based its name on the song by The Searchers. Which, in turn, is based on the common trope about Potions/Perfumes acting as aphrodisiac.

Jade
Pearl Delta - In Jade?... Maybe the Pearl River Delta, where cities like Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau are situated. Just a general "Jade = China" reference, unless there is more to it.

Tea
First Flush White Tea - From the interwebs: First Flush is defined as the very first plucking of a tea plant’s harvest season. The new growth leaves plucked during First Flush are the youngest and most tender part of the tea plant and are said to yield the purest and freshest cup of tea that plant is capable of producing.

 

[fy00sh]

Just spoke with one of my partners about this thread, she told me that Ivory's "Bertie Wooster's Billiard Balls" is probably referencing the British comedy-drama TV series Jeeves and Wooster. Apparently the character Wooster is a rich guy who plays billiards? Don't know much beyond that - anyone aware if there's a deeper reference being made there?

 

[Depravo]

I don't know whether it's a coincidence or not but 'Whalebarf' is also found in Futurama. It's pathetic that I can say this without having to look it up: it appears as an expression in 'Why Must I Be A Crustacean in Love', and ambergris as whale vomit also features in the plot of 'Three Hundred Big Boys'.

I have a life, honest.

 

[oakdragon]

A few to comment on with my thoughts:

Face-Off Facial Restorer: probably refers to peel-off facials,

Coughing Cowboy: probably refers to the Marlboro Man, who developed lung cancer from smoking.

Wujin Beauty Supplies: My guess is it means “limitless”, in reference to a turtle’s long lifespan and the claims of beauty aids to make you look younger.

Bertie Wooster: Jeeves and Wooster was based on a series of novels by PG Wodehouse, IIRC.

Whizzo Chocolates is a reference to a Monty Python skit.

Petit Dictator Cigars: “Petit” is a pun on “petty”, I.e., a petty dictator.

 

[medwynn]

Just spoke with one of my partners about this thread, she told me that Ivory's "Bertie Wooster's Billiard Balls" is probably referencing the British comedy-drama TV series Jeeves and Wooster. Apparently the character Wooster is a rich guy who plays billiards? Don't know much beyond that - anyone aware if there's a deeper reference being made there?

Billiard (and snooker) balls were originally made of ivory.

 

[kryat]

Has no one pointed out, Jurassic Gems Amber, referencing the mosquito in amber in Jurassic Park?
edit: @InsidiousMage beat me to this one

Heidi's Alpine Hot Chocolate Mix
Almost surely, this would be a Swiss Miss

Dock 2 Living Corp must be down the street from Pier 1

 

[Meluhhan]

Some of the references that I can think of:
1) Cotton:

• Mahendradatta Batik: Batik is a dying technique from Indonesia and is largely popular and used in Indian textiles as well. Mahendradatta was an influential Javanese princess who married into a Balinese royal dynasty and played a key role in spread of Hinduism in Bali. This name is probably a reference to the Javanese origin of both the dyeing technique and the queen.

2) Diamonds:

• Suvanna Gemstones: This one might be too far-fetched, but Suvarna means gold in Sanskrit and Suvanna might be its cognate in Thai. Also, Suvanna sounds like Savanna and considering how Savannas and diamonds are closely associated with Africa in popular imagination, this might be a reference to that.

3) Dyes:

• Litham Indigo: This is most certainly a reference to lithams or tagelmust, which is a type of indigo dyed garment wore by Berber Tuareg men. (Also, is this a subtle hint at the Bebers indeed being the last NFP Civ? )

4) Incense:

• Nag Champa: Nag Champa is a popular Indian fragrance, usually made with sandalwood and Champa flowers.

5) Silver:

• Fadaka Designs: Fadaka is seemingly the Yoruba word for silver.

6) Spices:

• Archipelago Nutmeg, East Indies Nutmeg: Nutmeg is native to the Moluccas island of the Indonesian Archipelago and were also one of the unique resources of the Indonesian civilization in Civ V.
• Gondvana Cinnamon: Cinnamon is native to the Indian subcontinent which was the largest supplier of cinnamon to the world for a very long period of time. Gondwana is the supercontinent of which the Indian subcontinent was part of and it derives its name from the Gondwana region of India. Gondwana is also one of the in-game continent names.

7) Tea:

• Saratsawati Chai: Chai is the word for tea in many Indian languages and various milk tea preparations in India are called chai. Saratsawati (and Saratsawadi from one of the silk industry names) sounds like Thai form of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess/ holy river of the Vedas/ embodiment of knowledge, speech and thought. Though I am not sure how it relates to tea or silk.

 

[Navelgazer]

Anyone else disappointed that Mercury didn't have any hatmakers or habberdashers associated with it?

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Meier's Oven Baking Supplies - Meyer lemons and Sid Meier

That being said I can't overlook the fact that there was a notorious gangster Meyer Lansky that just so happened to marry a woman named Anna Citron.
Of course the Latin name for Citron is Citrus.

 

[fy00sh]

Anyone else disappointed that Mercury didn't have any hatmakers or habberdashers associated with it?

There actually is a product called "Mercury Haberdashery", but it's associated with Furs and not Mercury, which seems to make sense I think.
From Wikipedia's article on Etherism:

Historically, this was common among old England felt-hatmakers who had long-term exposure to vapors from the mercury they used to stabilize the wool in a process called felting, where hair was cut from a pelt of an animal such as a rabbit. The industrial workers were exposed to the mercury vapors, giving rise to the expression "mad as a hatter".

Now what really disappoints me is a lack of references to immortality elixirs in the Mercury products, though maybe for legal reasons that'd have to be accompanied with a disclaimer to not actually drink mercury products... Could still be modded in tho i think.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Now what really disappoints me is a lack of references to immortality elixirs in the Mercury products, though maybe for legal reasons that'd have to be accompanied with a disclaimer to not actually drink mercury products... Could still be modded in tho i think.

That would require the game mode to be integrated with the SS game mode. That is build an Alchemical Society in order to create those sort of products.

 

[fy00sh]

Took me a bit to realize but it seems that the big april patch changed "Gulinggao Turtle Jelly" to "Guilinggao Turtle Jelly", and "Fugilin Dark Chocolate Bars" to "Fuligin Dark Chocolate Bars", so it seems that "fugilin" was in fact not a pun on "fudge". Glad to see these got fixed!

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.

Also, I've checked and verified that this method does in fact work - at least until an update comes out that makes a change to this file, in which case everything reverts - that's what clued me in to the changes. Haven't tried testing with more or less product names tho, and I prolly never will, so if someone has tested that and knows if it works please do share ^_^

 

[Andrew Johnson [FXS]]

Took me a bit to realize but it seems that the big april patch changed "Gulinggao Turtle Jelly" to "Guilinggao Turtle Jelly", and "Fugilin Dark Chocolate Bars" to "Fuligin Dark Chocolate Bars", so it seems that "fugilin" was in fact not a pun on "fudge". Glad to see these got fixed!

Also, I've checked and verified that this method does in fact work - at least until an update comes out that makes a change to this file, in which case everything reverts - that's what clued me in to the changes. Haven't tried testing with more or less product names tho, and I prolly never will, so if someone has tested that and knows if it works please do share ^_^

Yes, I fixed those based on comments I saw here. Thank you for those. Indeed, fuligin was meant to evoke Gene Wolfe, but my brain transposes letters around (a difficult thing when you're a professional writer), and many "i"s in a row with "l"s get confusing.

 

[Steamboat Willem]

Face-Off Facial Restorer: probably refers to peel-off facials,

"Face-Off" is also a movie with IIRC John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, where they swap faces or something (never seen it, but remember it being advertised a lot).

 

[Andrew Johnson [FXS]]

"Face-Off" is also a movie with IIRC John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, where they swap faces or something (never seen it, but remember it being advertised a lot).

I have no comment re: Cage, memes about Cage, impressions of Cage, GIFs of Cage moving back and forth between friends, or Cage being a general symbol for absolute madness on the screen.

 

[Linklite]

"Face-Off" is also a movie with IIRC John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, where they swap faces or something (never seen it, but remember it being advertised a lot).

Face/Off, but pretty much yeah. Travolta takes Cage's face to masquerade as him in his criminal life. The criminal ends up trying to destroy Travolta's face in spite.