YO! Sushi rebrands with a ridiculously long name

The Japanese restaurant chain YO! has recently rebranded its Richmond branch as YO!SushiRamenKatsuStirfryCurryBaoBurgerGyozaFriesYakisobaMochiBallsFriedChickenPopcornShrimpBeefTeriyakiChocolateBrownie! 

The new 121-character name features 17 menu items and is displayed on a monster sign that extends over 12ft. The aim is to highlight the choice of food the restaurant offers – there are over 80 dishes available (thankfully they didn't all make it to the new name). YO!'s website also announces the change, suggesting that perhaps it could become more widespread. 

Although having such a mouthful of a name is certainly not an approach to logo design we see very often, what is familiar is that the rebrand is linked to a social media campaign. Customers who upload a video to social media of them successfully saying this tongue-twister will be entered into a draw to receive a £50 voucher. 

Will having of the longest, most unpronounceable names do YO! any good? Well, if the town Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales is anything to go by, then yes. Because the chances are, you've heard of this long-named destination, and if you went there, you'd probably take a selfie at the train station. 

YO! said in a press release that it hopes this name will "inspire Britain to be more adventurous and discover the world of fresh, exciting and delicious Japanese food. To support this vision, the brand is relaunching to show that they are about more than just sushi with over 80 colourful dishes on its current menu." It also notes that this is based on research that discovered that 55 per cent of the public think that sushi solely means raw fish. 

There are a few questions that remain about this rebrand though. First of all, how will it fit on packaging design, business cards or menus, for example? Will it be all over the walls? Will the people who work at YO!SushiRamenKatsuStirfryCurryBaoBurgerGyozaFriesYakisobaMochiBallsFriedChickenPopcornShrimpBeefTeriyakiChocolateBrownie! have to answer the phone saying this name? And finally, does anyone really associate chocolate brownie with sushi?

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