Our bees don't speak English

Billybee Honey at No Frills in Vancouver, BC

YMY Billy Bee Honey (Ethnic)

What the hell is "ethnic" honey? Are the bees Italian? Do they buzz in Tagalog? Are the hives the shape of the Taj Mahal?

Okay, I'm being a bit facetious, but really, "ethnic"?

I presume that what the shelf sign is indicating is that this spot on the shelf is for honey that is labelled in English and French and some other language as well.

Now for the part of Vancouver where this store is located the additional "ethnic" language of customers is probably Chinese, so the three languages in the pots of honey on the shelf make sense. But what if Billy Bee also packages its honey in Arabic or Punjabi. While that might broadly be referred to as "ethnic" I don't think it would be as much use in this particular retail location.

And why does the shelf tag not say "Chinese" instead of "Ethnic"? (Would you buy honey from China?)

This little shelf tag raises more questions than it is entitled to. There is a reason for everything that happens in a retail store. We just need to figure out what they are. But that is what marketing classes are for. To ask these questions and get students, and instructors, to think.