When starting a business, one of the most important things to get right is branding. With good branding can come good marketing, good impressions, and good experiences for customers .
One fish and chips shop in London is facing a branding issue right now, with people speaking out against the name they chose for the shop. Despite the pressure, the owner refuses to change anything about his business.
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The name of a business can make or break it, especially when that name is a touch controversial.
This restaurant was facing the ‘break’ option when some threatened to boycott the establishment over the name alone, but when the owner refused to change, many more rallied behind them in support.
Jack the Chipper is the name of a fish and chips shop in London.
There are two locations, the first one having opened in East End area of Whitechapel, where the referenced Jack the Ripper killed his victims in 1888, while the new addition opened in Greenwich.
Their increased popularity means increased attention, including attention from those who don’t like the name, believing it to glorify the murder of women.
Owner Recep Turhan appeared on *This Morning* to talk about the controversy.
“I don’t think we will change the name because this is the history 160 years ago. I’m using only play on words for the name and nothing else,” he insists.
“Some people hate it, but some people love it. They stop in the traffic and say they like it.”
Turhan’s son, Cagri, who’s the manager of the shop, agreed.
“We don’t want to change the name. We don’t want to disrespect anyone. We’ve already shown our respectfulness by offering 50 percent discount for women just to show we’re not here to be disrespectful or damaging in any sense.”
“At the end of the day we’ve always said two things: we’re here to provide good and fresh food for our customers and we’re here to provide good customer service.”
They explain that most of the hate has been online only, and their in-store customers love the place.
“The customers that we have inside the shop – when they come in they love the food and say our product and customer service is great,” said Cargi, “However, these specific people who are trying to boycott the shop itself try to always give us negative feedback and reviews online and try to damage the reputation of the business.”
Following their appearance on the show, discussion regarding their name spread even further online.
“I see that ‘jack the chipper’ fish and chip shop may close, owner says it only marks ‘historical events’. No it makes money from women who were murdered,” said someone on Twitter who was not a fan of the name. “Doesn’t matter if it was hundred years ago or yesterday one was still alive after being literally ripped open. Think on that.”
But many thought the brouhaha over the name was overblown.
A supporter of the shop disagreed with the fuss, tweeting, “I’m sorry but if you’re offended by a chippy called Jack the Chipper then you need to go back to bed.”
“I think Jack the Chipper is a fabulous name for a chip shop,” another wrote . “It’s just something else for people without lives to complain about.”
And as some others noted, Jack the Chipper isn’t the first business to play on the notorious killer’s name.
“There’s a barber shop in the Whitechapel area called Jack The Clipper. That’s a bit more macabre than Jack The Chipper,” one person tweeted . “I don’t have any problem with it.”
Indeed, Jack the Ripper lore is a cottage industry around London.
As many pointed out, there are Jack the Ripper-themed walking tours around the area, and London has no shortage of other dark draws for tourists.
“So people queue to go see macabre artifacts and past villains etc at London dungeons but won’t go to a chippy called jack the chipper?” one person tweeted .
So, outrage over the name Jack the Chipper does seem a bit out of sorts.
Whether you agree or disagree that the name is in poor taste, they’re getting quite the round of publicity at the moment.
Only time will tell which side will be louder, the opponents or the supporters, but the fact that they were able to stir the pot this well with a name alone is impressive in its own right.
What do you think? Is the name in poor enough taste that they should change it, or are people making too much of a fuss over it? Let us know in the comments!
