Danesi (2013) notes that a product needs to be semiotized to become a brand with a particular code of meanings. One common strategy is to name a product after a fictitious character embodying specific cultural models and values which may change over time. Citing Frankel (2004), he also states that a brand promises a “particular experience” for the consumer. Regarding such consumptive experiences in touristic environments, Heller, Jaworski, and Thurlow (2014) explore ways in which multilingual resources are key to processes of identification, commodification and authenticity and they note that these processes inevitably involve tensions around issues of authenticity, ownership, and legitimacy.
Sambo’s restaurant, located in Santa Barbara, California, provides a rich fieldsite for both veins of research as it explores ways in which “the original Sambo’s” restaurant (1) has appropriated the non-trademarked fictitious character – Little Black Sambo of the 1950s popularized version of the late 19th-century children’s storybook – and (2) promises an authentic Santa Barbara touristic experience (“on the beach”) as well as a nostalgic American breakfast diner experience that has been “Doing it right since 1957.” Employing an ethnographically informed, semiotic and discursive analysis of Sambo’s branding practices, the marketing of its products (food and memorabilia), and of the clientele’s touristic experiences, this study reveals ways in which these practices combine to mostly align issues of authenticity, ownership, and legitimacy.
Key findings reveal that the fictitious character Sambo, an exoticized and racialized expropriation of cultural representation of South Asian Indian-ness, has been sanitized over time via “cuteness” in language and imagery (“Mama Mumbo Special”) and kid-friendly activities (balloons and coloring). Layered with other motifs of American nostalgia (black and white photos of the original restaurant and of original owners, “Sam” and “Bo”) and with mixed menu items (pancakes; huevos rancheros), the sum semiotic effect entails an alignment of authenticity, commodification and identification in the touristic consumption of a bonafide coastal California experience.
Danesi, M. (2013). Semiotizing a product into a brand. Social Semiotics 23(4), 464-476.
Heller, M., Jaworski, A., & Thurlow, C. (2014). Introduction: Sociolinguistics and tourism – mobilities, markets, multilingualism. Journal of Sociolinguistics 18(4), 425-458.
