中國公司山寨知名運動品牌安德瑪遭質疑
HONG KONG — A famous sportswear brand worn by the likes of the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his wife, the model Gisele Bündchen, has a savvy new competitor in one of its hottest markets, China.
香港——新英格蘭愛國者隊(New England Patriots)四分衛湯姆·布拉迪(Tom Brady)和他的模特妻子吉賽爾·邦臣(Gisele Bündchen)等人喜歡穿着這個知名運動品牌，而在中國這個最火熱的市場之一，它如今遇上了一個精明的新對手。
Under Armour, say hello to … Uncle Martian.
安德瑪(Under Armour)，跟……安可瑪汀(Uncle Martian)打個招呼吧。
The logos are almost identical. A stylized letter U with an inverted U directly beneath it. But unlike in Under Armour’s famous brand, the letters do not intersect. An A never gets formed. That leaves a U and what might pass for a humble lowercase n.
二者的品牌標識幾乎一模一樣。都是一個經過獨特設計的字母U下方逆向立着一個同樣的字母U。不過，與安德瑪廣爲人知的品牌標識不同的是，安可瑪汀商標的兩個U沒有交叉，於是並未形成A，只能說是一個U下面連着一個或許像是小寫字母的n。
Still, the obvious resemblance has caused a sensation online in China, where the brand’s flashy rollout this week has been met with skepticism by increasingly savvy consumers, who appear to be tired of their country’s being associated with cheap copycat products.
不過，這種明顯的相似性在中國的網絡上引發了強烈反應。該品牌本週在中國舉行了場面宏大的首次發佈活動，卻遭到日益成熟的中國消費者的質疑。後者似乎厭倦了自己的國家總與廉價仿冒產品聯繫在一起。
China is where, only a few years ago, some enterprising people in one provincial city set up a fake Apple store, complete with the iconic logo. It is the home of the fast-food chain Yonghe King, whose logo once bore a striking resemblance to a certain colonel who hailed from the state of Kentucky.
在中國這片土地上，就在幾年前，一些膽大的人在一座省會城市開設了打着蘋果公司(Apple)標誌性商標的假冒蘋果商店。這裏也是快餐連鎖品牌永和大王的誕生地，而該品牌的商標一度與來自美國肯塔基州的某位上校極爲相似。
The state news media identified the company behind Uncle Martian as an apparel manufacturer in Fujian Province, in southeastern China, called Tingfei Long Sporting Goods. No one at the 25-year-old company answered a phone number used in an annual report it had filed with the government.
官方媒體確認，安可瑪汀背後的企業是中國東南部福建省的一家名爲廷飛龍的體育用品公司。時報記者撥打了這家有25年曆史的公司向政府提交的年度報告中顯示的聯繫電話，結果無人接聽。
Uncle Martian’s first foray into the athletic wear market is shoes.
安可瑪汀首次進軍運動服飾市場推出的是鞋類產品。
One of its executives, Huang Canlong, said at a recent ceremony that the brand was going to be associated with “comfort, excellence and innovation,” according to a report published Thursday on the website . Mr. Huang said his aim was to create a “high-profile” brand with “high standards.”
上週四發表在環球鞋網上的一篇報道顯示，在最近這場發佈會上，公司高管黃燦龍稱該品牌將與“舒適、卓越和創新”等概念聯繫起來。他還表示，自己的目標是打造一個“高姿態、高標準”的品牌。
Chinese consumers do not appear to be buying it. As incomes have risen, consumer tastes have changed. People want — and many can afford — the real thing. Under Armour, based in Baltimore, has been on a roll in China, with sales nearly tripling in the first three months of this year compared with a year earlier, according to Bloomberg News.
中國消費者似乎不會買賬。隨着收入增加，中國消費者的品味在逐漸改變。人們想買真品，而且有不少人負擔得起。安德瑪總部位於美國巴爾的摩，在中國的發展一直順風順水。彭博社(Bloomberg News)的數據顯示，相比於去年同期，該公司今年一季度在中國的銷售額上漲了近兩倍。
The online criticism has been biting.
網上的批評非常尖銳。
One person who uses the handle “Diving Watcher” on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, was particularly scathing: “How come you can’t even design a logo, all you do is plagiarize, don’t you feel it’s disgusting?”
名爲“潛水的圍觀者”的微博用戶措辭尤其嚴厲：“自己連個logo都不會設計麼，一味的只顧抄襲，不覺得噁心麼？”微博是類似Twitter的中國社交媒體平臺。
Another Weibo user, Zhang Gemeng, pointed out that such blatant copying went against the national policy of trying to encourage homegrown creativity.
另一個名爲張格萌的微博用戶指出，這種公然的抄襲行爲有違中國鼓勵自主創新的國策。
“The Chinese have lost face, and don’t blame people when they say they look down upon domestic brands,” a user with the handle Luren MJC wrote.
“這麼丟中國人的臉，就不要怪別人看不起國產品牌，”名爲Luren MJC的用戶寫道。
Under Armour is also not amused.
安德瑪也對這種行爲感到惱火。
“Uncle Martian’s uses of Under Armour’s famous logo, name, and other intellectual property are a serious concern and blatant infringement,” Diane Pelkey, a spokeswoman for Under Armour, said in an emailed statement. “Under Armour will vigorously pursue all business and legal courses of action
“安可瑪汀利用安德瑪知名商標、名稱和其他知識產權的行爲是公然的侵權，引發了我們的嚴重關切，”安德瑪公司的發言人黛安·佩爾基(Diane Pelkey)在一封郵件聲明中表示。“安德瑪將積極採取各種商業和法律措施。”
What did appear a bit creative, at least, was the name Uncle Martian. Some speculated it might be trying to appeal to the popularity in China of the movie “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon. But that’s only the name in English. In Chinese, it is a mere transliteration of “Uncle Martian” — An Ke Ma Ting. The characters mean, roughly, “Encore Ma Sandbar.”
起碼，能顯示出一些創造力的是安可瑪汀這個名字。有人猜測它可能取自馬特·達蒙(Matt Damon)主演的影片《火星救援》(The Martian)，希望借上該片在中國大受歡迎的東風。不過，這是僅從英文含義推測的。安可瑪汀是Uncle Martian的音譯，而這幾個中文字可以勉強理解爲“再來一次，瑪汀”。
That does not appear to be a name conceived on Madison Avenue.
這可不太像一個誕生於廣告聖地麥迪遜大道的品牌名。
