When restaurant owners Ryan Vermaak and Fabio di Cosmo chose the name of their new #Misohawni restaurant in Mellville, Johannesburg, they surely never imagined that it would start trending for all the wrong reasons.
#Misohawni is a phrase that originates from the cult classic 'Full Metal Jacket' by Stanley Kubrick.
In the midst of the Vietnam war, a scene plays out where a Vietnamese woman chats to two soldiers, soliciting sex in exchange for money and uses the phrases: "me so horny” and “me love you long time”.
Vermaak and di Cosmo have used this as inspiration for their ramen restaurant which serves Asian dishes including Korean BBQ, poké, and izakaya.
However, Vermaak and di Cosmo are seemingly unperturbed by the bad response as they celebrate the opening of their restaurant.
Don't you just love the name! @HelloJoburgMag https://t.co/7cCuYK5ogw
— misohawni (@misohawni) November 14, 2017
The outrage continues on Twitter and Facebook
Hey @misohawni why don't you go screw yourself and your racist stereotypes! Irony considering you're in a country wound up in huge racist problems. It's like you want to invite trouble, idiots. #misohawni
— Snowflake Nest ❄️ (@snowflakenest) November 15, 2017
It is exactly this kind of gargantuan ignorance, arrogance and entitlement that left us with #misohawni
— lil tricep (@itdanya) November 15, 2017
We are giving the owners too much credit, I don’t think they are intelligent enough to know how wrong their concept is on so many levels. #MisoHawni is a clueless effort by club owners to have a restaurant. Their recent event flyers are a clear sign of how they operate. pic.twitter.com/c81SdgNrSk
— Bianca Esteves (@BiancaYoyo) November 14, 2017
Yep, it's also racism targeted specifically at Asian women - whose (many) cultures created the food that they're now trying to make money off. It's disgusting. #misohawni
— Devaksha Vallabhjee (@DevakshaV) November 15, 2017
Trigger warning: White arrogance on display. How about changing #misohawni to #misosorri? No country for gratuitous displays of white privilege, misogyny and racism. Shame on you https://t.co/Z6XJfKyxCl
— Annette Hübschle (@AHuebschle) November 15, 2017