Thrilled, that is, until the discovery that the soup was in fact cock-flavoured. A bit tangy for Diary's taste, although some sections of adland may disagree.
The soup was actually a canny piece of direct marketing from the marketing interpreter Mother Tongue Writers. Apparently, if you go to Jamaica and ask for a bowl of cock soup, no-one will bat an eyelid because that's what they call chicken soup over there. Mother Tongue Writers want to show that it's easy for brands to get lost in translation and that they can help prevent such cultural, erm, cock-ups.
It's a tragedy when these things happen, Guy Gilpin, Mother Tongue's managing director, says. Diary thinks they're a bunch of spoilsports. There are so many great foreign products with names that would go down a treat in the UK, such as the South African packet soup Shito Mix. Or how about a refreshing Fart (Polish soft drink) or a cheeky Macedonian beer called Vergina? And who wouldn't want the Swedish spice Anis Hel in their dinner?