By TERESA GUBBINS, Dallas Culture Map
The new banh mi concept from Yum! Brands has a logo that has raised some ire. Banh Shop, which opened across from Southern Methodist University on September 12, features the name of the restaurant set against a five-pointed red star.
Banh Shop logo features a red star. Photo by Marc Lee/Dallas Culture Map
A five-pointed red star is the symbol for communism, and has stirred unfortunate memories from those of Vietnamese descent.
“The red star in the logo is offensive to the thousands of Vietnamese Americans who have suffered from the Vietnamese Communist regime,” says Nikki Duong Koenig.
“A red or yellow star associating with Vietnamese food or anything Vietnamese is not a good choice,” says Doan Hanh Tran. “It’s very offensive to the Vietnamese American that lives here in this country because of that corrupted communist regime.”
According to Koenig, disenchantment over the logo has swept the Vietnamese community, who’ve made “banhshoplogochange” a hashtag cause.
“The problem with the logo is so obvious,” Koenig says. “When I first saw it, that was my first thought. ‘Why is there a Communist star in the logo?’ Why is it called Saigon, which is the independent republic of Vietnam? Any Vietnamese person or anyone who knows the history of Vietnam and the Vietnam war would absolutely recognize it.”
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