Aloha Poke Co. has apologized in the wake of a weekend threat of a boycott after its lawyers demanded businesses with “aloha” and “poke” in their names to rebrand. The lengthy Facebook post includes an apology for triggering emotional responses from “those who care very passionately about their Hawaiian culture.” However, the statement, attributed to CEO Chris Birkinshaw, also claims the company hasn’t been fairly depicted, as they’ve denied ever trying to shut businesses run by native Hawaiians down. 
 
 “Perhaps the most important issue that needs to be set straight is the false assertion that Aloha Poke Co. has attempted to own either the word “Aloha” or the word “Poke”. Neither is true and we would never attempt to do so. Not ever. We will explain more about this below,” the statement (see below) reads. 
 
 Over the past 48 hours, a significant amount of misinformation about Aloha Poke Co. has been shared on social media. We... Posted by Aloha Poke co. on Monday, July 30, 2018 
 
 Over the weekend, a viral video shared by a native Hawaiian activist over cultural appropriation sparked social media anger with locals frustrated by the notion that they can’t freely use their own language. 
 
 Aloha Poke’s statement mentioned two federal trademarks for the chain’s logo and the phrase “Aloha Poke,” which covers restaurants, catering, and take-out entities. The chain claimed its trademarks don’t “prevent another person or entity from using the word ‘aloha’ alone or the word ‘poke’ alone in any instance.” Aloha Poke also claims they’ve sent out letters “in a cooperative matter” and haven’t resorted to suing a business or forced any restaurant to close. 
 
 The response didn’t sit too well with Tasha Kahele. Her family owns the business formerly known as Aloha Poke Stop in Anchorage, Alaska. She’s a native Hawaiian who moved to Alaska and opened her poke restaurant/general store in 2014, two years before the first Aloha Poke Co. opened in Chicago. Kahele claims that Aloha Poke Co.’s attorneys sent her a cease and desist letter in May and gave her today as a deadline to rebrand. 
 
 The former Aloha Poke Stop is a small space with four tables with two seats each. Kahele’s family opened the store to bring the clothing, snacks, and goods that they missed from Hawai’i with them to Alaska. 
 
 Rebranding isn’t as simple as flipping a switch, according to Kahele. They had to pay for a new logo, signage, and contact the local health department, she said. She isn’t sure if the “new” restaurant — now named Lei’s Poke Shop — is considered a new entity. She may have to go through the entire process again. 
 
 “We just weren’t prepared to do that,” Kahele said. “We were already struggling as a small family business.” 
 
 Due to circumstances beyond our control, we will no longer be doing business as Aloha Poke Stop. We have decided to... Posted by Lei’s Poke Stop on Friday, July 27, 2018 
 
 While Aloha Poke Co.’s statement painted its requests as “cooperative,” Kahele said she felt threatened in their approach. Her interactions with Aloha Poke reps were difficult, she said. While Aloha Poke has trademarked the words to protect their fiscal interests, Kahele said the words are markers for native Hawaiians, to show how they value a breed of hospitality they feel is unique. 
 
 “It’s very special to us and I think in the end, like the Maori people in New Zealand, I hope the native Hawaiian people get to keep our language and hold it sacred,” she said. 
 
 For Aloha Poke Co. to say they haven’t forced any restaurants to close is missing the full picture, Kahele said. 
 
 “We cannot financially afford to go up against those guys,” she said. “We had no choice but to comply which has caused much financial stress and hardships for the family.” 

 Last fall, attorneys for Aloha Poke Co., the Chicago chain that’s opened locations across America prepped for its national expansion by sending a batch of cease-and-desist letters to businesses with “aloha” and “poke” in their names. Over the weekend, more letters emerged as a major appropriation related controversy broke out on social media thanks to a viral video. The new letters are now apparently targeting family-owned restaurants run by local and native Hawaiians in their home state. 
 
 Activist Dr. Kalamaokaaina Niheu is a kanaka (native Hawaiian) and a physician in Honolulu. She recorded the video on Saturday and in the footage she shared personal feelings about how she feels her culture has been commodified and exploited by mainlanders. She had been contacted by local businesses in Hawai’i who felt threatened and didn’t know how to respond. 
 
 “‘Aloha’ is an incredibly cultural significant term for our people,” she said in the video. “It is something that has been completely commercialized and denigrated. In reality it is an incredibly powerful word. To trademark that word and to punish people for the use of this? A Chicago company?” 
 
 ****UPDATE SIGN OUR PETITION**** https://www.change.org/p/levy-restaurants-aloha-poke-co-remove-aloha-and-poke-from-your-name?recruiter=8910168&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_petition TO OUR CHICAGO INDIGENOUS ALLIES This Chicago business has aggressively threatened Kanaka Maoli families with legal action for the use of the word "Aloha" on Fb or businesses. Friedlander currently has a gag order on a KANAKA MAOLI family and has ordered them to cease and desist from the use of a word in our language from being used. When the lawyer was asked if his client even knew what the meaning of aloha was, "he said it was irrelevant and that they owned the rights to it and they were gonna come for anyone who had the word aloha in their business name and were selling poke or any other seafood" Allies in Chicago for Indigenous families struggling to make a living, struggling to perpetrate our culture PLEASE Kako'o by going to the place of business and letting them know WE WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS. Article re prior victims, but the info I'm talking about is more recent https://chicago.eater.com/2017/8/1/16078638/aloha-poke-chicago-fairhaven-washington-name-trademark Here is the owner's Facebook https://m.facebook.com/zach.friedlander.5?ref=content_filter **Update** Ok, we can go national Kanakas. There's locations all over the United States. https://www.alohapokeco.com/locations/ Yelp page https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-6 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-7 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-8 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-9 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-11 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-13 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-14 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-18 https://www.yelp.com/biz/aloha-poke-chicago-19 #NoAlohaPokeCo Posted by Kalama O Ka Aina on Saturday, July 28, 2018 
 
 Last year, one poke restaurant in Washington state changed its name to comply with Aloha Poke’s demands. The company claimed it wanted to reduce confusion between its trademark and other restaurants as the chain prepared for nationwide expansion. The exact nature and language of the company’s letters hasn’t been shared publicly. 
 
 The video posted on Saturday ignited social media users from Hawai’i to Chicago. They’ve flooded Aloha Poke’s Yelp and Facebook pages with negative reviews and feedback like “colonizer poke.” Some have taken to personally contacting Aloha Poke founder Zach Friedlander. Friedlander left the company a few months ago as the company hired a former Potbelly executive as CEO who’s focused on expanding the brand. An online petition has emerged demanding Aloha Poke to remove “aloha” and “poke” from its name. Friedlander’s other projects, including working with Christopher Kim on expanding his family’s restaurant, San Soo Korean BBQ, have also been caught in the social media crossfire. 
 
 Poke is a dish of raw fish that’s often flavored with soy sauce, sesame oil, or other ingredients. It’s widely available at grocery stores and restaurants in Hawai’i and part of the local cultural identity. Aloha Poke was first to market the dish in Chicago in 2016, serving its version of poke in rice or salad bowls. The chain has gone on to open in other cities including Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, LA, and San Diego. Levy Family Partners saw potential in expansion by investing millions of dollars into the company. 
 
 Levy’s fiscal strength is a contrast to the family businesses that are struggling and whose livelihoods are being threatened by these letters, Dr. Niheu said. She delved deeper into the discussion during a Sunday phone interview calling Eater Chicago from Hawai’i. She said laws to discourage the use of Hawaiian language further complicate the issue. Some took those laws as making the native language illegal. It was an attack on native culture as an attempt to force assimilation while colonizers took over the islands, she said. For Niheu, “aloha” is a deeply warm greeting that recognizes someone else’s humanity. Hawaiians often talk about the “aloha spirit” of altruism and working together to survive and flourish. 
 
 “I think we are stronger as a people than we ever have been since they initially tried to wipe us out,” Dr. Niheu said. “We were supposed to die, but we didn’t.” 
 
 Dr. Niheu wants Chicagoans to know that this isn’t a knee-jerk reaction. She’s not only been an activist in her home state, but she said she’s also not oblivious to issues affecting Chicago. Restaurants have a role in gentrification, and Niheu mentioned the plight of Chicago’s people of color, especially on the South and West Sides. It hurts her that “aloha” — a term so important to her identity — is being used as a hammer to speed up gentrification. She vowed to visit Chicago to perhaps protest and work with residents personally. She wouldn’t reveal how many Hawaiian businesses contacted her as she wants to protect them from retaliation. 
 
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 Aloha Poke corporate hasn’t yet responded to requests for comment and Friedlander left the company months ago. Friedlander issued his own statement on Monday morning. He’s sad and feels there’s a misunderstanding and believes the issue may be resolved within 48 hours. 
 
 “When I started this company, I did so out of a passion for this work and an incredible respect for all that ‘aloha’ means, which I incorporate into my every day life,” Friedlander emailed. 
 
 Friedlander also mentioned miscommunication: 
 
 “Unfortunately, many facts about the company’s name have been left out of the conversation on social media, but more than anything I am truly sorry that anyone, especially native Hawaiians, have been offended by this situation. I want them to know that I have nothing but love and respect for them.” 
 
 Social media users sent messages with anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs to Friedlander, a suburban Chicago native who is Jewish. He didn’t comment on the attacks. Niheu said that she respects the anger and emotion, but those remarks aren’t needed. They aren’t the aloha way. 
 
 “‘Aloha’ is an incredibly complex, deep, and powerful word to us,” she said “It’s powerful and cultural and we’ll fight tooth and nail to not have it taken from us.” 

 Hawaii residents have criticized a Chicago-based poke chain after it tried to stop other US restaurants selling the trendy sushi bowls from using “aloha” in their business names, accusing the company of cultural appropriation. 
 
 In May, lawyers for Aloha Poke Co, sent cease-and-desist letters to a native Hawaiian family business in Anchorage, Alaska, ordering it to stop using “aloha” or “aloha poke” in its name, Aloha Poke Stop. Aloha Poke Co had done the same to other shops around the country, including at least one in Hawaii, where poke originated. 
 
 Over the weekend, the Anchorage business announced that it had been bullied into changing its name, setting off a firestorm in Hawaii. The Chicago business has since been pummeled with bad Yelp reviews and messages on social media, accusing it of bullying native Hawaiians out of using their own language. 
 
 “Aloha” means both “face to face” and “breath of life,” according to Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, a Hawaii historian. It is a Native Hawaiian word used around the islands in place of “hello” and “goodbye”. But the word is also an important cultural concept for the islands’ culture, and its generally peaceful, kind and welcoming way of life. 
 
 Poke is a native Hawaiian food – and recent foodie fad off the islands – consisting of raw fish seasoned with spices and served over rice. 
 
 Aloha Poke Co has allegedly been targeting poke restaurants across the country that have similar names for the past two years, citing a 2016 trademark. 
 
 “We got a love letter from them in January,” Jeff Samson, co-owner of Aloha Poke Shop in Honolulu, said of the cease-and-desist order they received – identical to the one received by Aloha Poke Stop in Anchorage. It reads: “Your use of ‘aloha’ and ‘aloha poke’ in promoting, marketing and selling your food … is a direct infringement of of aloha poke and Aloha Poke Co’s registered (trademarks). Your use of ‘aloha’ and ‘aloha poke’ must cease immediately,” according to a copy obtained by the Guardian. 
 
 Like Aloha Poke Co, Samson opened his business in 2016. He considered trademarking the name, but said it seemed ludicrous, in part because Hawaii already has multiple businesses that use that name. 
 
 “We could have gone and tried to trademark the name,” he said. “But I was like: ‘How could you trademark aloha? How could you trademark poke?’” 
 
 “We don’t wish them any ill will,” Samson said about the criticism now being aimed at Aloha Poke Co. “But they could have stopped this a long time ago.” Samson said his store decided to ignore the threats from Aloha Poke Co hoping that the company wouldn’t actually come after it. 
 
 David Jacobsen, the owner of Fairhaven Poke in Bellingham, Washington, said his business, which was formerly called Aloha Poke and Aloha Poke Fairhaven, was also bullied into changing its name. Jacobsen, who is from Hawaii, said he was shocked and upset when he received the first letter from Aloha Poke Co, but said he didn’t have the money to risk a legal battle with the larger company. 
 
 On Facebook, the company apologized and denied the claims against it. 
 
 “Perhaps the most important issue that needs to be set straight is the false assertion that Aloha Poke Co has attempted to own either the word “aloha” or the word “poke.” Neither is true and we would never attempt to do so,” the company wrote. 
 
 “What we have done is attempted to stop trademark infringers in the restaurant industry from using the trademark ‘aloha poke’ without permission. This is a very common practice: the company holds two federal trademarks for its design logo and the words ‘aloha poke’. This means that the company has the exclusive right to use those words together in connection with restaurant services within the US.” 
 
 Phone calls and requests for comment to the company and one of its former owners were not returned. 
 
 Kaniela Ing, a Hawaii state representative, said in a video posted on Twitter: “It’s bad enough that [aloha] has been used and commodified over time. But this is the next level. To think that you have legal ownership over one of the most profound Hawaiian values – it’s just something else.” Ing encouraged people to boycott the Chicago-based chain. 
 
 Ing also pointed out that there were several Aloha Poke outfits in Hawaii that also use that name. “They should be suing you,” Ing said. “But they probably won’t, because that’s not ‘aloha’.”
– You can say "aloha." You can say "poke." But if you put the words together, you may end up with a cease and desist letter from Aloha Poke Co. Critics of the Chicago-based chain—which produces the traditional Hawaiian dish of seasoned raw fish over rice—say that its 2016 trademark of the phrase "Aloha Poke" and its efforts to defend that trademark amount to cultural appropriation and bullying, the Guardian reports. The situation came to light recently when Lei's Poke Stop (formerly Aloha Poke Stop), which is located in Alaska and run by a Hawaiian family, announced on Facebook that it had changed its name, per Eater. After getting a cease and desist order from an Aloha Poke Co lawyer in May, the eatery decided to comply because, says one of the owners, "We cannot financially afford to go up against those guys." Other poke restaurants have received similar letters, according to the Guardian—including Aloha Poke Shop in Honolulu. Co-owner Jeff Samson says he's decided to ignore the demands. He says he once considered trademarking his shop's name but decided against it, saying: "How could you trademark aloha? How could you trademark poke?" But, like Lei's Poke Stop, other shops have changed their names to avoid the expense of a legal battle. These may be pyrrhic victories for Aloha Poke Co, however, as critics take aim at the company on Yelp and call for a boycott; a viral video and petition also call attention to the issue. In a lengthy Facebook post, the company claims the campaign against it is based on "misinformation" and says that people are free to use "aloha" and "poke," they just can't combine them in a restaurant name.