Haribo, the much-loved sweet company, is a favourite for many, particularly during the autumnal season with Halloween just around the corner.
Eager trick-or-treaters will soon be donning their eerie costumes and looking forward to stocking up on their annual sugar fix. Haribo, renowned for its classic Goldbears, Tangfastics and Starmix varieties, has even introduced spooky limited edition mini bags ideal for the occasion.
The brand’s slogan, “kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo” seems to provide the perfect guide on how to pronounce the brand’s name – but it appears we’ve all been saying it wrong.
The German firm was established in the early 1920s by Hans Riegel Sr in Kessenich, Bonn, Germany. The name Haribo is derived from the first few letters of ‘Hans’, giving us the ‘ha’; Riegel, which contributes the ‘ri’; and Bonn, which supplies the ‘bo’.
In 1922, the company created the iconic gummy bear – small gummy sweets shaped like miniature bears – which quickly gained popularity and are now sold globally. Haribo named its own version Goldbears to distinguish itself from rivals.
Today, the company produces a variety of gummy-based sweets, including Giant Strawbs, Sour Sparks, Jelly Babies and more, as well as cola bottles, sour cherries, dummies, squishy crocodiles, fried eggs, heart throbs, ice creams and others which can all be found in its popular mixed bags like Starmix, Tangfastics and Supermix.
This Halloween, many trick-or-treaters will be hoping to receive a variety of tantalising confections from lavish chocolates to succulent sweets. But nobody can quite agree on the correct pronunciation of certain brand names.
The team at writing platform QuillBot have unveiled the proper pronunciations for the most famous goodies this Halloween, and it turns out many of us have been saying ‘Haribo’ wrong.
Common mispronunciations vary from ‘Hair-uh-bo’ to ‘Harry-bow’, but as per QuillBot’s clarification, ‘HA-ree-bo’ is the correct pronunciation.
The revelation has sparked a fierce debate on social media, with Brits standing by ‘Harry-bow’, reflecting its ubiquity in UK television adverts. In the realm of X, previously known as Twitter, debates are rife.
One user posted: “Just heard someone pronounce Haribo ‘Hareebo’ and now I can’t unhear it”. Meanwhile, a throwback clip featuring Louis Tomlinson of One Direction sparked another user’s confession: “I’m obsessed with the way Louis pronounces Haribo”.
A staunch UK local asserted: “That’s how we say it in the U.K! We might be wrong but that’s how the advert tells us to say it – ‘The happy world of Harry-Bow.’”
Another debated: “I’m German and I love Haribo. But I always say “HarryBoo”,” while someone else pointed out: “That’s how we say it in Denmark too (the German way) but all English speakers I’ve heard say it like Lou and Li”. Another added: “that’s how most people say haribo in England (at least where I’m from)! no one really says hareebo”.
The pronunciation of the brand name as ‘Ha-ree-bow’ by political editor and presenter Beth Rigby sparked further debate among the public. One supporter stated: “This is how I pronounce it too Beth!!!! Nothing to be ashamed about”. Another said: “Strictly speaking, you’re not totally wrong: They’re named after Hans Riegel from Bonn (HaRiBo), so it’s a workable pronunciation of the portmanteau. “
A different user quipped: “Or have we all been saying it wrong??”while another social media user declared: “She should own her meecro-warvay moment. HAREEEEBOS FOR LIFE!”.