The perils of international branding have once again been highlighted with the news of Russian gas giant Gazprom’s new joint venture with Nigerian firm NNPC — to be called Nigaz. (The logo on the left is a selfmade mockup)

While the origin of the name is easily explained — a conjunction of the words “Nigeria” and “gaz” — English-speakers seeing the word written down find the brand name has rather different connotations.

Incredulous Twitterers quickly spread the story around, dubbing it a branding fail and prompting a number to suggest Nigaz should adopt a strapline along the lines of “gas with attitude”.

Nigaz will actually build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.

Read More at Brand Republic or check out our story about Bing Means Disease