Friday, January 8, 2010

Do you like Havaianas?

A friend of ours is Currently visiting South America and was recently in Buenos Aires. Where he reported, “Havaianas for as low as $15AUD. Not bad huh.” To which I thought, “How would I know if that was good or bad, as I don’t even Know what a Havaiana is”.
At first, I thought it might have been a Cuban Cigar, but as I don’t think this person smokes, I didn’t think that was it though. So l looked it up on the Net and found out that the exotic sounding ’Havaiana was simply a brand or trade name for a simple product that, although supposedly introduced to us by the Kiwis, is a quintessential piece of Australian footwear. Yes! That exotic sounding Havaiana, is simply a brand of the Humble thong, or as it is known in South Africa, the Flip-flop!
Thus, Havaianas are a Brazilian brand of thongs/flip-flops that gained world recognition in 1998 after the company developed a style of the sandals for the World Cup that featured the Brazilian flag. Although Havaiana flip-flops have only become wildly popular in the United States in the last five years after many celebrities were seen wearing them, the brand has been around since 1962. The brand's famous slogan "Havaianas. The Real Ones." originated in the 1970s as a response to other companies making knock-off versions of the flip-flops. The shoes are known for their comfortable soles and straps. The name Havaianas means Hawaiians (in Portuguese), which is where they obviously come from via Japan where all thongs/ flip-flops apparently originate from.
All in all, all the above doesn’t really mean all that much to me, but it was surprising to learn that a product that many Australians would think was synonymous with Australia, both has other names and originated elsewhere far from Australia.
All of which made me wonder how many other things we proudly claim as our own that we should actually be giving credit and recognition to? And I guess the same thing should be asked of my own life too? What things am I currently taking or being given credit for that I should be giving or directing to the correct source? Maybe you too need to ask that same question too? Over to you now for your reflection.

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