Beer brand and leather store unwittingly named after Māori word for 'pubic hair'

Canada’s Hell’s Basement and a shop in Wellington both thought the word ‘huruhuru’ meant ‘feather’ – they were wrong

A Canadian brewery and a leather store in New Zealand have found themselves in a hairy situation after using te reo Māori to unwittingly name their respective brands after pubic hair.

Canadian brewery, Hell’s Basement, called its New Zealand Pale Ale Huruhuru, while a shop in the New Zealand capital, Wellington, gave its entire outlet the name.

“Some people call it appreciation, I call it appropriation,” te reo Māori exponent and TV personality Te Hamua Nikora said on Facebook, after explaining that most Māori would use the word “huruhuru” as a reference to pubic hair.

Related: 'Hello, death': Coca-Cola mixes English and Māori on vending machine

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