Why We Pulled our Oura Ring Video

We owe you an explanation
Watch the full WAN Show: • USB Branding Changed A...
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[@Muxeroth]

Losing such a marketing opportunity because of that sounds pretty stupid from Aura's standpoint

[@juicedup14]

oora*

[@The_Butcher_of_Blaviken]

aoura*

[@SirFlukealot]

*Audi

[@TheSpicySimon]

asus*

[@StreetPreacherr]

Hey, if it was actually SERIOUS they should have PUT A RING ON IT!

[@raf42]

If the pronunciation of your brand isn't immediately apparent, and you're going to be upset if it's done wrong, include it phonetically in the materials you send for a sponsored video!

[@danielpope6498]

Or maybe don't even come up with a brand name that isn't clear how to pronounce.

[@Celsian]

Right? This seems pretty straight forward. Sounds like a company I have no desire to deal with on any level, much less give them my money.

[@PhilipPetkov]

Well , actually you do pronounce the pronoun our (auar) same with hour and maybe other words. English is not my first language and even I read Oura like a different spelling of Aura because they sound close and also in other languages Aura is read with a firm A not AO sound. Linus knows French were it might be similar. But strictly comparing it to everyday words , he made the mistake and threw a company under the bus for it....

[@shifusensei6442]

@@PhilipPetkov he made a mistake, which humans do. He tried to rectify and offered a solution, which the offended party rejected without offering their own solution (as far as I know). He literally did everything he could do. Hardly throwing the company under the bus.

[@PhilipPetkov]

@@shifusensei6442 He actually said he wasn't able to offer a solution.... His team made a decision because the video can't be changed. He actually didn't say what their comment was on the issue, only that it blamed him. I understand it's not helpful when doing business, but in this case the company is the customer and LTT should be the one apologizing and making things right. If you say publicly that a company did bad by you and you don't want them as your customer you better show exactly what they said otherwise it's just words that show them in a bad light. Sure he didn't ran them over with a short film rant(bus). But LTT is a big electronics reviewing media outlet and they can influence people into not buying a good product because the company handled an issue on someone elses part badly...How exactly is that fare. His job is to review products not customer-company communications. Either say you made a mistake and fix it quietly or show the full communication based on which you slammed a company's reputation. He can never work with them again , but he should not reveal this particular information because it's based on something small and stupid (whatever they said) just like calling a company that sponsored you with the wrong name.

[@pierresakurai4812]

From Oura FAQ: *Try to avoid wearing the ring while strength training, working with a shovel or other heavy tools, and carrying heavy objects made of metal, ceramics, or stone. In addition, try to avoid wearing the ring next to other rings or objects made of metal, ceramics, stones, or diamonds. The Oura Ring may get scratched and can itself scratch softer metal jewelry or other objects in close contact with the ring, such as phone covers made of gold, silver, or aluminum. Some ceramic phone covers with a soft coating may also get scratched. Don't leave the ring exposed to heat for extended periods. Don't puncture the Oura Ring or its battery. Don't pronounce Oura Aura Oula Ara or Ola.

[@ralphM1114]

so basically just get a fucking smart watch or smart band with more functionality without the risk of being exposed to the physical abrasion of wearing it on a load-bearing surface (fingers)

[@ulture]

@@ralphM1114 don't know about you but my wrist has borne a few loads in its time

[@kedolan4992]

@@ulture But it doesn't need to bear that weight on both sides: generally the watch band is much less scratch-prone than the face, after all.

[@fairguinevere666]

@@ralphM1114 All rings are dangerous though. I think your biggest risk would be catching it when falling and ripping your skin off rather than anything else.

[@chadbones7676]

@@ulture Amen to that

[@rodrigomunera8523]

As a company, if you have to fight users to correct the pronunciation of your brand, it’s a fault with the brand. The movie “that thing you do” comes to mind, where the name of the band was oneders, and people started calling them the “oh-neh-ders” instead of the “wonders” like they intended. So they changed the name instead of going on a campaign to make people use the alternative pronunciation.

[@fuseteam]

Tfw i read "oh-neh-ders" om the first readthrough 🤣

[@Lazdinger]

Man, that is the perfect example👍

[@Dijitz23]

What sad is that even the most basic names can still be pronounced wrong depending on the individuals. It's like they forget that some people also may have accents or like they said depending on where the root of the word is coming from it can be changed. When you wanna make money sometimes you gotta roll with the punches especially over something petty like this. They made such a bad move.

[@ericepperson8409]

First thing that popped into my head when they began talking about this.

[@pgplaysvidya]

how the hell do you see "oneders" and think "oh-ned-ders" or whatever? even I read it as wonders and i don't know about this band group troop

[@StoneMountain64]

If they would have jsut made a joke out of it would have been way more helpful to the brand

[@DSP720]

Why should the brand have to change their entire marketing strategy to include jokes? They were the customer here, and Linus didn't deliver for them because he didn't care about their brand image- then Colton pulled the video.

[@DSP720]

Not everybody is Dbrand

[@Jasperr9999]

​@@DSP720it's just a suggestion. One that would make them more likeable. Their reaction just left a bad taste in everyone's mouth

[@x-ray3443]

@@DSP720 joking certainly would’ve worked better than whatever the fuck they tried here lol

[@hardcodedsoftware4212]

They just wanted the free advertising. ​@@DSP720

[@NotSoMax]

I just can’t imagine blowing up a brand deal with LTT over the pronunciations of your brands name, especially when so many huge brands have their names mispronounced constantly and are still worth billions

[@subjekt5577]

Imo it's a problem with the brands name, and they should have specified their pronunciation in the deal with LTT or any other partners

[@hoofhearted4]

right? the amount of times I've heard Asus mispronounced and they're a hell of a lot bigger and more known than Oura lol.

[@squish4369]

the nike effect

[@yusufomotoyosi7697]

Hyundai, Huawei etc.

[@tigana]

@@GH0STST4RSCR34MBut Oura is marketing to English speaking people, no?

[@hippokrampus2838]

What's funny to me is that had you pronounced the name it could actually make it harder to find the ring. Aura rings are a thing and the only reason they don't pop up first on Google is either Oura paying to be listed or it's that common of a mistake that Google just fixes it.

[@ilovefunnyamv2nd]

by aura rings do you mean mood rings? edit, nope actual jewelry brand. if I was Aura, I'd be suing for brand infringement

[@danfr]

I recently started researching fitness tracking (smart) watches and rings to decide what to get. Looking through text article reviews comparing the "Oura" ring to others. The only reason I was aware they existed was because of linus talking about the "oura" ring. Funnily, if linus had been pronouncing it "correctly" the entire time as "aura" then it's possible that when I read through the articles comparing smart rings I may not have even recognized the oura ring in the articles as something worth considering.

[@tetryl1]

Also there is a Finnish software company called Ouro :D ... maybe Oura should take a hard look in the mirror on how to handle situations like this and not just set fire to all bridges.

[@dontblattme7227]

Oura was coming from more ego than maturity and resolution, linus' team did the right thing. It's kinda like telling the truth sometimes, it's gonna sting, but it at least avoids bullshit down the line.

[@evilofalfa]

Yeah

[@pileofstuff]

You'd think any company with a name that isn't blatantly obvious how to pronounce should have a pronunciation guide in their press kit and in their advertising/marketing guides. If brand image is important to them (and for any serious company it generally is), they should be making sure this kind of mistake is basically impossible.

[@FeuerToifel]

imho, the best way to make such a mistake impossible is by choosing a name that is pronounced as read. but the same time, those names are probably almost all taken already.

[@tjroelsma]

To quote P.T. Barnum: "I don't care what they write about me in the newspaper, as long as they spell my name right." LTT praising their product gave them huge publicity, even if he pronounced the name wrong in their opinion. And if you go a step further: a correction from LTT would have meant extra publicity, whereas now people just see the company as being petty.

[@DSP720]

It is obvious, he just ignored the accent mark and didn't care enough to get it right.

[@Roccondil]

@@DSP720 The accent mark actually clues the reader that it's pronounced in the way that he did. The straight line above the vowel is a common phonics symbol denoting a "long" vowel.

[@DSP720]

@@Roccondil it's called a macron and it would be pronounced like ocean or oak.

[@ComboBreakerHD]

4:52 thank you, Linut. I'm a brand designer, we've built well over 300 successful brand identities, it is a distinct pet peeve when a startup leaning on that trend of misspelling their own brand name insists that it's pronounced one way or another. I have never pronounced Oura as "aura". Notta once, and I probably never will. They've failed to run a campaign to inform me otherwise.

[@mugnuz]

It's pronounced la-anus not anything as Linut! ;p

[@imperialspacemarine1539]

@@devilselbow it is the fault of oura though that nobody knows how to pronounce their brand. its relatively easy nowadays to make a propper promo vid on youtube and the likes. to completely base their PR on influencers is a hella stupid move and has created a problem that could have been avoided by either a)just naming themselves Aura or b) make a vid on youtube and other social media where they pronounce it right and give links to these vids with emails pertaining sponsorship deals. While linus hasnt done his due-dilligeance Oura hasnt done theirs either.

[@nothankyou]

Why are ya'll putting an 'a' at the start? It's prounced like 'Our', 'Our-a' 🤷 'Aura' is pronounced the way that Linus was saying it originally... I think this is a cultural thing. Americans just say stuff weird.

[@imperialspacemarine1539]

@@nothankyou Because "Oura" gets mad when their invented word is not pronounced exactly like they want you to. And now you have done it. You better sleep with one eye open cause an oura hipster is gonna come for you!

[@Archer957]

@Where is this where did you get American from that? Oura ring is based out of Finland and LTT is Canadian

[@RayneDr0ps]

I would go out on a limb and say they saw the backlash in the comments on that video regarding the subscription fee (because there was a TON of negativity about it, and rightly so IMO) and they used this lame excuse to get the video pulled to try and save face. I could be wrong, but just seems wild for a company to blow things out of proportion like this, especially when your product was/is well liked, when a simple correction on LMGs part could have been taken and was offered. Congrats on shooting yourself in the foot Aura, or Oura, or Hoora or whatever you want to be called.

[@antoinefdu]

100% agree

[@zebraloverbridget]

@@xxxESP If they don't like that feedback then the solution is simple: don't require a subscription on a product you are already paying full price for. Alternatively, price the product lower than it costs to make and keep the subscription model.

[@micweis]

This is the most reasonable explanation. The pronunciation was just their dumb excuse to cover up the real reason for taking it down.

[@winnieid2727]

Yup

[@dreknows]

I agree their subscription fee is a sham Mahe you buy more expensive one. I was ever going pay for the gucci but I never could get my hands on one for less 1k

[@333dae]

This is so funny because at the end of the day Linus liked the product, a simple apology and acknowledgement of the proper pronunciation would've been a win-win edit: not only does he like it, he uses it daily, the only way the review gets better is if he invests in the company like Framework

[@jeremydale4548]

Too bad Oura are a bunch of crybabies apparently.

[@dtemp132]

This is what happens when companies market on platforms they don't understand. If a KZbinr with 15M subscribers likes your product, you have struck gold, shut the F up and let them pronounce you however they want

[@mrblurleighton]

Plus they would get lots of extra marketing when LTT publicly apologizes and let's people know the correct pronunciation.

[@anthonynunyabizness9989]

Fuck an "apology". A simple correction on the next video was all that was needed.

[@s.i.m.c.a]

with oura attitude, they could go fk themselves.

[@BumboBoy]

They scammed LMG clearly. Wanted a free sponsorship and they got it. They reached 90% of your audience in the few hours the video was up and didn’t have to pay for it.

[@mulgeroinen]

The best thing is that the company is from Finland and the way you said Oura before actually sounds a lot more like what it sounds in Finnish instead of the way they wanted you to say it

[@OLBarbok]

Yeah because they are weebs who want you to pronounce it Japanese

[@Critical3rror]

@@OLBarbok that's not how it would be pronounced in Japanese though? Oura would be pronounced like O-ura O does not make an "A" sound like described in the video it's generally pronounced like "oh" But be ignorant all you want I guess.

[@Masterous]

@@OLBarbok I think it's more our-a, like the word our

[@YezzyHD]

@@Critical3rror You can tho. öra or õra

[@bbg5000]

It's pronounce /ō-ra/, with the 'o' sound from 'oak'. OH-ra. Linus in his 'corrected' way is pronouncing it 'aw-ruh' like the word 'aura'. He's still getting it wrong.

[@djmidnightwolf]

Where I live in the Midwest, Aura would be pronounced like "ora". Same with how they spell it. Can't companies be like D-Brand and just accept that everyone will say it wrong?

[@pedromssobrinho]

Wait... How is d-brand supposed to be pronounced?

[@stevejones69420]

@@pedromssobrinho da brand like how you say dababy

[@djmidnightwolf]

@@pedromssobrinho in a past Linus video he said you actually pronounce the "D" instead of just saying "D"

[@xcalium9346]

D-Brand is a chad company though. They insult their customers, shitpost, and generally don't give a shit about PR or anything. I love them

[@NickeyMouse]

Where in MW are you from? I'm from MO and I pronounce Aura as "or-uh" and if I didn't know better I would pronounce Oura as "hour-uhh"

[@anonyshinki]

Oura is an old swedish/finnish word and the company is based in Oulu, so the name was likely unrelated to aura. In Finnish indeed the pronunciation is similar to aura in English.

[@Oblivion9873]

Finnish pronounciation would be closer to "ow-ra" than aura no?

[@Redmanticore]

company is named ŌURA. ŌURA does not mean anything as such. Ō does not exist in Finnish alphabet. OURA or ORA is supposedly an old swedish/finnish language and means rocky soil or boulder. which is what this product will become, just a useless rock. of course, their makers touted it literally as the new nokia. but that's a very common hype phrase in Finland since nokia died. naturally, the company's original creators, Petteri Lahtela, Kari Kivelä ja Markku Koskela, left the company in 2020. In 2021 company made 77 million loss. interestingly, on the Finnish Wikipedia, it says nothing about oura being an old finnish word, or getting any inspiration from it. it describes the creation of the name thus: "The name of the product was developed by a brand agency, which required the name to sound soft to distinguish it from the consonant names of competitors[8]. The development of the name started with the letter O, which resembles a ring. The agency's employees found the _Japanese_ word ora, which begins with O, meaning gold, and combined it with Oulu, the hometown of the company's founders: the combination became Oura[8]. _The logo of Oura is derived from the name of the Japanese city of the same name, whose spelling includes the character makron[8]."_ so, technically, its actually the Japanese that could come say to the finnish company, how it is actually pronounced.

[@anonyshinki]

@@Oblivion9873 you're right, yeah either way it's "oh" and not "oo" in front

[@anonyshinki]

@@Redmanticore interesting, I assumed that Oulu was part of the inspiration, but didn't know the rest. The Japanese part is odd though, or at least I don't know the word "ora" with this particular meaning. There's 黄金, ougon (reads ~"ohgon"), which means gold, but it's the second kanji here that lends the word its meaning, the first being "yellow". And for what it's worth they call themselves "Oura" in text even on their website, not Ōura - that one seems to be only used in the logo.

[@funlover163]

​@@anonyshinki I mean that pronunciation also wouldn't be "aura" either

[@hardrout17]

Who give a damn about the prononciation... Audience is international, the brand Oura was clearly identified for everybody. The video was great for them. They are shooting themself in the foot. Good job Aura...

[@richjback]

Ourdience

[@paulbarnett227]

@@richjback 🤣🤣

[@tomtricks6838]

ourssholes

[@DerKatzeSonne]

They clearly have no idea about PR. Otherwise they wouldn't do this or even ask for a monthly payment for basically nothing. Great product it seems, but PR wise horrible decisions. Starts with the name that noone can type / search for / remember / pronounce.

[@takao4491]

More than all that pronunciation BS... I mean, Linus have been really gentle with their monthly subscription. Because here I think we all agree that it's really a deal breaker to have a 400£ ring that doesn't even work properly without a monthly tax. Plus it means that, it's based on a DRM like thing. So even if you still got the apk around, maybe you will not even be capable of using the ring properly if their services fall.

[@TylerMcVeigh1]

I'm actually surprised they don't give sponsors a phonetic spelling or just tell them it's pronounced "Aura." I can't believe this is the first time this has happened before.

[@joshuaboniface]

Yea I actually feel sorta bad for Linus here having to take the blame for "not doing his due dilligence" on it. Like guys (Oura), you're sending him products and descriptions and shit for a sponsored video. "It's pronounced like 'Aura'": 4 freaking words is all they had to include, and to be proactive about it too knowing that most English-speakers would pronounce it like Linus did.

[@ritwikism]

He has pronounced it Aura in every other video / WAN show. They had no reason to believe he would change it in the one video that actually mattered. People are being too hard on Oura here. Look at it from their POV, maybe it's one of their first big social media push and the brand name is mispronounced and there's a stupid **correction everywhere to prove that both them and LMG did a shoddy QA job. It's a reputational issue that no marketing man would appreciate especially for a smaller scale company.

[@wasvreta]

@@ritwikism i really don't think your brand name being pronounced wrong warrants this much of a reaction, small company or not

[@SampoSaarela]

They give. It is Finnish company and Finnish is always written as pronounced, no exceptions. So "Oura" is [Oura] and nothing else - damn simpletons. Also, the name is combination of "Oulu" and "aura" so the first syllables should be produced same way as in "Oulu". I gave no clue who made the idiotism up about it being pronounced like "Aura", I feel like someone there is trying to pull Linus' leg.

[@xdka826]

@@ritwikism if their reputation is so important to them, then send the damn appropriate pronunciation with your marketing material. Linus has mentioned Oura many times in videos and no one from Oura saw any of those videos? People pronounce company names all the time, if they can get so uptight over something that small they don’t sound like anyone should give them the time of day

[@youraverageburntoutstudent4129]

the chat is so braindead for blaming linus lmao. He's literally just telling the story and giving good advice on how to communicate.

[@wendtchr]

He initially called a new hire "trigger happy" and blamed them for the video removal. He corrected himself right after, but I think that's part of what they were referring to.

[@kuchenjaeger2164]

@@GH0STST4RSCR34M If you work internationally, then don't expect people to speak your language.

[@Murtida]

@@GH0STST4RSCR34M If the name is pronounced more 'Wrong' than more 'Correct', then the name is the problem. Not the ones saying it.

[@avroday949]

Steve from gamers Nexus has entered the chat

[@jeremytine]

@@kuchenjaeger2164 you should if you are PAYING them for an advertisement... Linus fcked up once again

[@dagucka]

I was VERY interested in their rings, when i saw them i even thought of ordering wedding rings from them (which cost a fortune) but what immediatly turned me away was that you needed a subscription for them to work.

[@michaelwerkov3438]

That's so gross. Imagine a lifetime of paying a subscription for your fucking wedding ring

[@dagucka]

@@michaelwerkov3438 yeah, that turned me away... I prefer paying a big sum once over small regular payments. Even if paying at once is more expensive, it is done, while regular payments can get you in trouble.

[@alexoja2918]

Yeah not just a person you're marrying... really weird. Who would end up buying that?

[@dagucka]

@@alexoja2918 lol imagine their ad campaign: "want to marry more than just one person? How about a lifelong comittment not only with your spouse, but also with our subscription! Marry your bank account with ours and get lifelong loveletters via invoices. Ouya, because your spouse shouldn't be the only one being f*cked."

[@alexoja2918]

@@dagucka Yeah I'd buy that. Definitely.

[@NoName-sb9tp]

I remember about someone work at a hospital or some place that deal with kids and their parents. One mom named her daughter “Symmer”, so the person who posted it call her as such. Her quacky mom snapped back and told the poor person that it’s called “summer”, not “simmer”, you know, like insane people. Oura has that energy in them lol.

[@gblargg]

OK... "SEYMMER it is"

[@darrens3]

I don't think that parent understands the correct use of the letter Y in any context.

[@NoName-sb9tp]

@@darrens3 what a suprise, right? 😅

[@sondernfy]

@@darrens3 Cyrillic "y" is pronounced "u" or "oo". That's about the only "u"-sounding "y" I know

[@NoName-sb9tp]

@@sondernfy problem is, they were in the USA. So I doubt that teen mom (cause the poster said the mom was very young) known any Cyrillic, let alone pronouciation.

[@brian4thid49]

I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to tell us about this as it has taught me a lesson that will help me better myself in business communications !

[@HobbieJ]

I’ve been calling it “OORA” for a long time, I was today years old when I knew it was supposed to be “AURA”. And I researched it a ton before buying one! If they didn’t have a pronunciation guide, totally not your fault. It is the current zeitgeist.

[@blast3001]

Exactly. If they were aware people mispronounce their name then they should have a guide and be sure they verbally convey how to say it. Linus and many others have been saying it “wrong” for a long time and it’s now a problem?

[@SaHaRaSquad]

And if an international company needs a pronunciation guide they messed up.

[@iAmTheSquidThing]

I've had one for several years and I've just realised I wasn't even sure how to pronounce it.

[@Taijifufu]

Yeah I imagined it like a military thing "hoorah, oura!" for some reason.

[@hastyscorpion]

@@SaHaRaSquad lol that just isn’t true. Porsche, Addidas…..

[@homonihil823]

I was put off by them after reading their interview in a Finnish newspaper a while back. They came off as arrogant or full of themselves or as somewhat wierd. This kinda confirms that. It's a shame too, because I was actually interested in the damn thing and would have absolutely loved to hear what Linus had to say about it. Instead all I've heard is how their name should be pronounced, on multiple occasions now.

[@TimSheehan]

I was seriously interested in this because I wanted to track health but not start wearing a watch, after this behaviour (and mostly the subscription) I've bought a Garmin Venu 2 so good work Aoura driving away potential business!

[@igrvks]

Yeah their boss is a very much of a "character", dude basically watched Silicon Valley and thought he is supposed to actually be like that.

[@brunoyudi9555]

care to elaborate on the content of the newspaper? genuinely curious

[@TimSheehan]

@@halzucati how does any of that relate to my comment? Where did I say anything about not getting the information I want? I got plenty of information from many sources but again nothing in my comment remotely relates to that....

[@BoogerLeader]

@@halzucati If you're having trouble keeping up with the conversation, you probably shouldn't be posting. Oura hurt their own brand and marketing. A product isn't successful because of the pronunciation of their product. Because all we've heard about the product is nonsense about their name, now people don't care about the company.

[@PhilipKerry]

It isn't actually spelt or pronounced wrong it's the word OUR with an A added so their pronunciation was correct ......

[@Ondrix]

It's the whole reason that the Air and Train industries went to a "blameless work culture". When you attack people all the worry about is defending themselves, covering their tracks, and avoiding blame. But if you just go "OK, mistakes happened, now let's figure out what went wrong so we can prevent it from happening again.", people are _much_ more willing (and likely) to admit their fault, and go into more detail about what happened, so they can do what needs to be done to fix.

[@DogsRNice]

You probably also don't want people in the train industry to be covering tracks in general tbh

[@will9480]

@@DogsRNice lmaooooo

[@joshuaboniface]

That's how it works at (good) software dev, sysadmin, etc. jobs as well. Humans make mistakes. If you screw up, and the culture is one of toxic blame-pointing and bus-throwing, then people will either not do anything at all ("can't break anything if I don't do anything"), thus giving you molasses bureaucracy, or they will do as you mention and deflect, get defensive, hide mistakes, shift blame, etc. Good culture means acknowledging that sometimes shit happens and it's just about fixing it.

[@manafount2600]

@@joshuaboniface is right on the money. As an SRE, I'm very happy that we have a strong blameless culture. If I'm part of an incident response where thousands of people are waiting for services to come back up, the last thing I want is for people to shut down and focus on evading blame. It's much more useful to have them tell us exactly what they did so that we can resolve the problem. Our post-mortems will list causes, sure, but it's not an irredeemable black mark if you or your team end up there. It's just a learning experience that we get to look back on and probably joke about in the future.

[@paulaldo9413]

Anyone unwilling to accept that sometimes things don't go your way has the same emotional maturity as a 5-year-old kid. Shit happens, and most of the time, almost everyone shares their part of the blame.

[@666KnifeParty]

idk how a company could be mad because of a minor error

[@m-w-y7325]

that's how most companies that have great products, staff and even well maintained public relations end up in the dumpster cause their CEO or owner felt it personal when some reviewer just pronounced they name slightly wrong. soo many times I've seen this, ego kills success.

[@user-me1mv4vy9q]

Maybe cuz they think dat viewers will get the impression dat linus didnt really care about the ring

[@anonony9081]

It's their error too. Copy and marketing materials for people to speak about almost always comes with pronunciation guides.

[@tropicalfruit4571]

@xOyinoUS Yeah well their name is not a word, I'd pronounce it /'ɒʊrə/ or /ɒ'uːrə/, or just /'u:rə/ or /'ɔːrə/. That's 4 fucking things and I'm sure other people would come up with more. If the way one pronounces the brand name is so incredibly important to the sponsor then they should reach out and make sure you say it right instead of getting mad for mispronouncing a word that doesn't exist (or at least doesn't exist in English). On the other hand, yeah if you want to extra safe you should have your staff check it for you but IMO the initiative should be on the sponsor if it's this important. In fact they should make a poll and ask people how they would pronounce their name, heck ask your non-marketing employees, the bottom line of your workers who don't really give a fuck about anything, free poll. This is just stupid, it was extremely fixable and killing a relationship like this is super stupid. Linus is fine either way but they lost an incredibly huge audience to market to.

[@mndlessdrwer]

If you've got a product with a weird name and you're paying for a sponsored video then you should 100% make sure that they know precisely how your product name is pronounced before the video gets made. It honestly should not be on the reviewer to figure out how your weirdly named product is pronounced. Sort out your naming or provide a pronunciation guide with your product.

[@whitespys007]

I am glad that I saw this. I have been on the fence about getting one of these rings. When I saw Linus had a video review I was stoked. I thought it was my phone glitching out when it would not load. So I closed the app and reloaded, After 3 hrs of not finding the review, I figured that I must have mis-read the caption and gave up. I am glad to know that it was real and that I could not find it for a legit reason.

[@adamtubak]

Sanity restored 😅

[@ja450n]

On the official Oura youtube channel they have two videos Mar 31, 2022 : 'Boost Your Immunity with the Oura Ring' Jan 11, 2022 : 'Features of the Oura Ring Generation 3' These both make it sound like Linus' original pronunciation (with an 'O' at the beginning) is right.

[@SeezSantos]

This !

[@caesar485]

And here is the reason influencer marketing actually works. After the previous LMG clips video about Oura, i seriously considered buying one. Now that thought immediately dissapeared from my mind. If they're this petty about small stuff, they're going to be petty to me.

[@techienate]

I actually don't care about the name pettiness. But hearing that Linus uses it is more compelling. It fits my lifestyle more than a watch, I'd probably buy one if it didn't require a stupid subscription.

[@Kingdeathtrooper]

@@techienate You probably should care though, imagine trying to get tech support or act on a warranty from these people.

[@Dijitz23]

@@Kingdeathtrooper Well one could only hope their tech support is more consumer friendly than their pr department. PR should be heavily reprimanded if they was involved.

[@rzpogi]

This just indicates how petty the company would treat its customers and employees in the long run. Asus didn't go after Linus if he mispronounced Aura (Owra or Aura) Sync.

[@rustyshackleford7200]

All we hear is Linus' side of the story, we don't even hear what his Business team went through, I don't like to judge things until I've heard both sides of the story

[@bumlookercheekymonkey3985]

So I went to the website under “contact us”. There is frequently asked questions. I searched pronunciation and wouldn’t you believe I found nothing. So I guess it’s on them. P.S. you guys are giving them a ton of business on this video so I’d say they owe ya one! Good job on being the bigger mahn!

[@canonicaltom]

I remember the first time I tried apologizing in a situation where the other person was totally to blame and being crazy, because I didn't want to fight I just wanted to defuse the situation. They came back a couple days later and apologized for overreacting and then we were cool. It was extremely counterintuitive for me but it was a good lesson.

[@tnk4me4]

That person probably has better than average critical thinking skills and a strong sense of justice. Not sure if most people would have acted that way without some heavy intervention.

[@error.418]

Just a side note, but the tip in the video wasn't to apologize, necessarily, but to say, "I might have misunderstood." Basically just removing blame or reframing as a misunderstanding that can be worked through.

[@canonicaltom]

@@error.418 Same thing basically. Like you said, you're giving them space to meet you somewhere in the middle rather than making them defensive.

[@error.418]

@@canonicaltom Totally. Thus a side note, not any sort of "correction."

[@TheHeadincharge]

That’s the basics of conflict resolution. The biggest tip anyone can ever give you on how to deal with conflict is always start the conversation by finding common agreement with the other person on something. You don’t have to actually fully agree, but the goal is just to get them to realize they are being heard and their anger isn’t entirely unjust.

[@luca8479]

It's funny because I was legitimately considering an Oura to replace my aging Fossil hybrid, but after seeing this play out, they've been dropped way down the list. Anyone running a business like that is going to find themselves a trouble sooner or later

[@MichaelJM]

Running a business like what? Oura wasn't happy with a suggested fix and apparently were "unhelpful" in ways that aren't described. I have no idea what Oura did wrong in this situation.

[@zunky242]

@@MichaelJM throw a pissy fit over they way they are pronounced, they did the same thing with a finnish newspaper they are way too arrogant.

[@MichaelJM]

@@zunky242 You may be reading into "unhelpful". Maybe they were jerks over email, but Linus didn't say that. I guess I just don't have an issue with them being upset about their name being mispronounced. But ultimately we don't know exactly what led to the removal of the video, and it's not clear if that decision was mutual.

[@charlesgrove6905]

@@MichaelJM Right, I'd imagine paying for a marketing sponsored video and having something as basic as that slip through, I mean at minimum shows a bit of unprofessionalism, as it was posted to the actual platform. Sure perhaps the way they responded wasn't "helpful nor constructive", but Linus didn't put anything out there beyond obfuscating what is somewhat of an apparent fuck up on his part with both handling the client and reviewing the video. The brand name is stupid as it is but due diligence is still a thing in my industry.

[@tams805]

@@MichaelJM Being rude and upset over how their company name is pronounced, when they use a vowel pair that has different readings. That and their rip off of a subscription service.

[@youjean83]

In the last few days, I was considering getting me the new Oura-Ring Horizon as an additional fitness tracker next to my galaxy watch 5 pro. And yes, when I first heard about them, I also pronounced it the wrong way. I mean, it's just like you said. If the company decides on a “playful” name, then this is precisely what they should be expecting from the people. Moreover, I noticed that in their shop they offer the same ring in different colors, and based on the color, they ask a premium between 300-500 bucks. On top of it, to me, the ring would only be useful with their subscription. Having said this, the product itself is promising, and I would like to have it, but Oura does not seem to me like a trustworthy company due to their price policy. It feels like a cash grab, asking the people a premium price on the ring and sort of forcing them into a subscription. This is where I changed my mind on getting their product.

[@Tuomo-w3e]

As a Finn this whole situation is so hilarious and sad at the same time. After Nokia we haven't really had a technology company like Oura. Regarding the pronunciation, I suppose oura is a Finnish word and it's not pronounced either way. You can type it in Google translate and select Finnish as the language and hear for yourself. Of course the company wants it to have a more "international" pronunciation. Nevertheless, this is still a huge L for the company.

[@alexoja2918]

Yup. It's not even a real word in Finnish though.

[@XGD5layer]

They say it's from how the japanese romanize how they write aura (oura, sometimes ōra)

[@TheNotSoFakeNews]

You have those smiley face vote thingys outside motorway service station toilets ? That counts as a tech company

[@lyoselli]

that's true, HappyOrNot is (or at least has been) a huge for a finnish tech company on the global scale

[@bakedbeings]

Meanwhile, No-key-a (usa)/nock-ee-ah (aus) was chill with our pronunciation as long as we bought their phones :)

[@akaiappears]

The pronunciation is like the word "aura" because, I assume, it's not "Oura" but "Ōura". An "Ō" is pronounced as a long "O", similar to the one in "omniscience" but stretched a bit longer. This is where it all falls apart. If you go to their website then the only place you see the "Ō" is at the site header and in some pictures you see the "Ō" as a logo. Every other time it is spelled "Oura", which is probably over 100 times on their site. Being pedantic about the pronunciation of your brand name that you don't care to spell correctly has big dum dum energy.

[@onizendor8839]

imagine designing a product. give it a fancy name in your specially designed Font and native language... and then hire a cheap web-designer somewhere, that neither has your Font nor speaks your native language . . .

[@Revolyze]

They do spell it correctly. You can write Tokyo or Tōkyō, doesn't mean either is wrong. They also are not pronounced as "aura" at all, this is another case of LTT paying very little attention to detail and messing up again.

[@ToastbackWhale]

English orthography is essentially arbitrary (this is touched on in the video). This goes double for brand/company names. I don’t think you even need to go as deep as “it wasn’t written correctly.”

[@akaiappears]

@@Revolyze How is it pronounced?

[@s.i.m.c.a]

nobody gives a fk about usage of English "O" in meaning of Latin "Ō". Latin is a dead language, only some derivations left. Using some "special" and "fancy" naming - You obligated to provide the info for the Advertiser. It's not the job of an advertiser to guess - how your stupid product should be properly pronounced.

[@spacecube40]

As a Swede I see the line over the o and pronounce it Öra. Öra is Swedish for ear.

[@thomashenden71]

And we over here in Norway, would probably pronounce it more like Åra, and thinking about various way to pronounce english worldwide, it seems increadible that the company took issue with Linus doing this small mistake. Everyone should by this point know that this could result in the video being pulled, and everyone would loose. Now, I just realised how weird it is that IKEA uses those strange Swedish names for any product they sell, in any market, being it nordic, indian or french, in addition to english, and everyone seems to still be able to buy bookshelves and recognize the IKEA brand. I have even visited IKEA in Bangkok and wondered how thai people experience those odd swedish product names, and felt like teleporting back home, when entering the store btw. 😂

[@MrLaeddis1]

This was an incredibly mature and reasonable conversation. That stuff toward the end on how to not place blame (because it’s not helpful) but to continue working toward a resolution. Very important in business.

[@GulfCoastGrit]

I always told my team that in these types of situations you have two options: you can be right, or you can get something done. They are mutually exclusive choices. What’s your pick?

[@tedjohansen1634]

And even so, LTT did the polar opposite. lol.

[@charlesgrove6905]

@@tedjohansen1634 For real. By all indications.

[@NyxHunter]

When Luke started talking about Dev's on stage making blunders I immediately thought of No Man Sky's catastrophic launch. Sean Murray the head of Hello Games was a dev he didn't have the experience talking on stage and dealing with the press so he over promised because he didn't know how to say no to something in a positive way. Internet historian gives a great run down of the whole situation if you're curious.

[@chumleyk]

I literally was about to buy an Oura to replace my old tracker bracelet. I just can't do it now. They sound toxic. I hope they reprimand those who communicated with you and make a public apology. If not, this attitude runs throughout their company and I want nothing to do with that.

[@Henrix1998]

The company actually managed to get to Finnish newspapers and cry about the name and it's pronunciation and meaning. The name has "dynamic syllables that create a image of a user that leaps from couch to a run "

[@skurblord3401]

Huh... Is this the same company that made a block of wood and a piece of string as some non descripted toy? XD You know what company also has that image. Every sports wear company ever. Sometimes the shear stupidity of marketing teams is overwhelming.

[@KalleKilponen]

The thing that boggles my mind is that a Finnish company is this bent up about the way their name is pronounced. One of the notable things about the Finnish language is that every letter is pronounced the same it's spelled, thus spelling is never an issue in Finnish. And the way it's spelled in Finnish is not the way the company wants to pronounce it. 🤦‍♂

[@jwo7777777]

@@KalleKilponen "...letter is pronounced the same it's spelled ..." Huh?

[@KalleKilponen]

​@@jwo7777777 In Finnish the pronunciation of letters don't change depending on the word, like it does in many other languages. So for example in English the letter A sounds very different in cat and ball, but in Finnish it's always the same. This means if you can read something, you can pronounce it correctly and if you can say something, you know how to write it.

[@michaelwerkov3438]

"That create the image" god damn some of these companies are so full of shit

[@hornedwolf26]

The stupid thing is that a friend of mine is working for Oura in their headquarter office in Finland. She pronounces it as Oora too.

[@seth-bullock]

Everyone I know pronounces it Our-a. It's dumb for the company to spell it one why, but pronounce it another way. And Oura's business plan with their membership is going to kill the company. They are heading in a dark direction with their business plan.

[@kartoffelbauczh9554]

Love the comment about "throwing staff under the bus" - clearly missing the joke and dynamic Colton and Linus share

[@TheRogueWolf]

A sizable chunk of the audience is just there to rag on Linus.

[@LightsEnd304]

Colton was promptly fired after pulling the video

[@Oscar4u69]

@@LightsEnd304 finally 🤣

[@techienate]

I realize it was a joke, but it didn't come off well. Legitimately, that wasn't a good move on Linus' part, but you're right, a lot of people just love attacking him. He's too big to avoid that, he's just going to have some haters when he's the single biggest, most recognizable name in the industry. But this wasn't his smoothest moment either.

[@proceduralgames]

I find this sort of joke tough for a superior to judge when to draw the line before it becomes an issue but assuming that is all fine this joke is still likely to miss the mark with many. It isn't easy to do and you've complicated it with required prior knowledge and viewers needing to be comfortable with the in joke punching down from boss to staff. Add to that the dry delivery and no context of comedy. Even Linus quickly corrected and said it wasn't just one person knowing it wasn't his best work. We all make bad throw away habit like jokes at times, just like I make bad throw away habit like sponsor segues...

[@MScholtz]

Could have been worse "Experts Exchange" had their domain registered without a hyphen for years.

[@LeftJoystick]

hahahahahaha oops

[@gblargg]

That domain would be worth a lot now, given the trends...

[@kuroibullen1639]

As a finnish person I do apologize for having to deal with this crybaby company. Expecting everyone to even be able to naturally pronounce something in a finnish accent is beyond ridiculous.

[@Handl3sAreStupid]

I was actually close to buying one until I rethought the monthly subscription, and how they could raise it at any time.

[@StreetPreacherr]

And here's a PERFECT example of how the 'subscription' model can FAIL! The video WAS available. However, when Oreo decided they didn't like the content, the company essentially just arbitrarily DELETED/DISABLED a few 'subscription' features associated with their product that had previously been available...

[@mrblurleighton]

They sound waaay too petty for me to wanna get locked into a long term subscription. Hell no! I change my mind, thanks for letting us know.

[@Handl3sAreStupid]

@@mrblurleighton Exactly my thinking! Already was on the fence, but their behavior makes me realize that I do not trust being locked into their ecosystem.

[@techienate]

I hate the subscription model. Linus using it himself was the strongest endorsement I could imagine. I literally went to the website to look at them in spite of the name drama. But a subscription service? Gross.

[@Handl3sAreStupid]

@@mikeycrackson When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous. But when you say "Paying a monthly subscription for health data that would be nice to have but I don't really need" .... Never mind that still sounds ridiculous.

[@maijulindstrom9670]

The fact is I think every single Finnish person pronounces it wrong, because since Oura is a Finnish brand of course we think the name is pronounced the Finnish way. If they would want it to be pronounced correctly it should be written Aura, not Oura. Or at least have some type of explanation how to pronounce it, if it's that big of deal. I have never heard it pronounced as "Aura", not even from Oura's side. This is on them.

[@backalleycqc4790]

On their website "Ōura" appears only once, in the header, and I guess that's pronounced "Aura". However "Oura" is in ALL of their marketing text on the same website. In other words, their marketing is terrible.

[@HaralHeisto]

@@backalleycqc4790 "Ōura" isn't pronounced "Aura" by native english speakers. The macron lengthens a vowel without transforming it into the normal long form. So it becomes "ohh-ra", not ow-ra or "orr-ra" (which would be the two most common pronunciations of "Aura" depending on regional dialect). LMG and Oura both dropped a ball on this one. Oura absolutely needs a pronunciation guide in their press kit, but also Linus really should have checked - mispronouncing a sponsor's name is a huge mistake.

[@backalleycqc4790]

@@HaralHeisto Isn't that what I just said? Anyway, knock yourself out...

[@justinwhite2725]

It's the Nutella argument all over again.

[@GetIrked]

ASUS! I ran an IT firm back from 2002-2007 and ASUS's own marketing department REPEATEDLY told us to pronounce it "'ASUS' as in 'pegasus''" and now they're running around telling everyone to pronounce it "'ASUS' like 'Dr. Seuss.'" Linus is 100% correct - if they wanted it to be called "aura," they needed to buy the domain name and registration for "aura." Heck, my company name is irx and I don't complain if people call it "irk's" or"I.R.X." because I get it (even though it's a play on my nickname so it's "supposed" to be "irk's"). Fantastic clip! Got me all ranty and ragey! 😉

[@cmoullasnet]

I see the problem. Their logo has a horizontal bar over the "O" like ŌURA. In some languages, that horizontal line is an "A" sound hence the confusion. What's absolutely baffling to me, however, is that they aren't using the Ō character on their website in the text content anywhere. Clearly they didn't do that in whatever they provided to LMG either. So they are literally misspelling it on all their stuff. What did they think was going to happen?

[@justinwhite2725]

That's even worse. An o with a line over it says it's name. 'Oh-rah' I'd guess the 'u' has to be silent.

[@zakofrx]

That causes problems with websearches etc.. They are named one way becsue of the Finish language using special characters but English is the default for domains and people would never be able to type the special character for the domain or websearches so they use a simplified English version of the name for their domain and Web presence..

[@sethaie]

‘Oh-rah’ is probably closest you’d get, given that non-umlaut line wouldn’t change it somehow. Finnish language has no such character ō; closest non-o would be ö (pronounced ~err, like, you know, err, while talking). Company has definitely dived quite with competition at fraction of cost coming on playing field. Battery life on 3rd gen is less than impressive, app doesn’t sync on background and does not notify you that it would be time to do so. HR monitoring accuracy is what it is, nice for sleeping and daily avg but for exercise it’s as good as guess. If I’d have to pay monthly fee switching to another vendor would be easiest choice in life. Kinda shame, as a Finn I was very excited to see health tech company coming from the north but as usual someone let the ego take control and messed things up big time. What we’ve never seen happening before *cough* nokia *cough*

[@jonathanberry1111]

Sure, but it's not like most English speakers know that a line above an O makes it an a sound, or that o ever makes an a sound. I see that because it's a ring they wanted an o and also it makes it a unique trademarkable name unlike aura, but they really just need to take mispronunciations on the chin, make a joke of them.

[@alexwithanx]

The biggest issue with Oura is that everyone automaticly thinks "Aura" the first time they see it. Everybody (especially in PC/Gamer environments) thinks ASUS Aura or just generally the word aura which is why it comes to mind much quicker than a "made up" word that looks and sounds almost exactly like the other one you alrdy automaticly associate it with. Youd assume they went for Oura only because Aura was alrdy taken but they wanted the name that badly.

[@UngoliantsSchatten]

I mean based on the pronounciation of Ouroboros (which i suspect they somewhat based their name on given the ring imagery and all that) Linus' pronounciation should be the correct one anyway.

[@tosvus]

My guess is they wanted Aura but it was impossible to get the trademark (and I'm sure domain name)

[@ominousplatypus380]

That's not actually where the name comes from. There's an article (in Finnish) where they say that the name is based on the Japanese word pronounced "ora" which means gold, since the company was founded in the city of Oulu the added these two together to arrive at Oura.

[@SaHaRaSquad]

@@ominousplatypus380 Well, Finnish is not exactly the greatest language as basis for international brand names, especially if the founders get salty about incorrect pronunciation. They should have just stayed with Japanese words.

[@ominousplatypus380]

@@SaHaRaSquad ya I wasn't saying that their reaction was justified, I was just trying to provide the correct information. And it's not like English speakers pronounce Japanese any better than Finnish...

[@tosvus]

@@ominousplatypus380 ah cool, thanks for the explanation.

[@JohnSmith-xv1tp]

The company name is literally Ōura Health. If you have the dash above the O, it's pronounced (oh-ura). If they want people to pronounce it right, they need to spell it right.

[@mrsideperson8405]

Oura really fucked up their chance, greetings from Finland

[@The1Goby]

Imagine getting a second chance to have one of the biggest faces in tech review your product and you permanently end any chance at a business relationship because you were mad he messed up your four letter name that had three vowels in it.

[@aleks_moldi]

Not even mess up, its just called differently then its written. Its like sayin my company is xiua, but its pronounced ziva cuz that makes sense

[@wenlisman]

@@aleks_moldi Its pronounced like its written, its a Finnish company.

[@xxportalxx.]

@@wenlisman right, and yet they were working with an English speaking Canadian company, it'd be like McDonald's ending their relationship with a japanese firm bc they pronounced it wrong lmfao

[@Roccondil]

@@aleks_moldi Actually, I could easily see "Xiua" being pronounced "ziva". (I may have actually, in my head, initially pronounced it very close to that on first reading... I may have a few too many friends who watch anime and J/K/C-dramas...)

[@tams805]

@@wenlisman Mate, Finnish is one of the messiest languages that pretty much is only related to Estonian.

[@euta37]

💯 I personally really appreciate the transparency you give about pretty much everything.

[@TheAmazingPaulrus]

Totally agree. Assigning blame makes people feel better, especially when they're not at fault, but it isn't productive. This is a great example of where an after action review process could be applied, where expectations and outcomes are compared, and a plan of action to move forward is developed collaboratively.

[@dragonmeteor1057]

Sometimes morons need to be yelled at, but you dont go to 100 at the start

[@TheAmazingPaulrus]

@@dragonmeteor1057 nobody needs to be yelled at ever. There are ways of correcting behavior professionally, and if the behavior cannot be corrected, they can simply be terminated.

[@voidshadow]

"Assigning blame isn't productive" Our liability laws would disagree

[@TheAmazingPaulrus]

@@voidshadow ah yes because this situation is subject to liability laws lmao.

[@duncanb1506]

ou is a romanization for long o sounds in Japanese. As someone who deals with tech from overseas, hopefully this is a learning opportunity.

[@Handles-Suck-YouTube]

Well, maybe they should include a pronounciation guide if this was so important that it warranted a reaction like that.

[@jbnelson]

Maybe a company that brags about it’s 80 employees should watch a product video where they say their name

[@ismaeltorres3219]

@@jbnelson maybe a commenter with never anything positive to say said stop watching content from this company

[@jeremydale4548]

@@jbnelson And maybe a commenter should consider that a company simply did not know the prononciation and never heard it said outloud. This is all Oura's fault for not telling them how to say their name and then getting upset at the wrong pronunciation. THINK Oura! THINK!

[@jbnelson]

@@ismaeltorres3219 You’re just looking at comments on this video that I disagree w Linus/LMG. The only other topic that I frequently disagree with him is when covering Apple which stems from the same place: apathetic leading into uneducated into annoyed into arrogance. Other than that or stuff similar, I’m quite the fan. You don’t have to be 100% for or against.

[@jbnelson]

@@jeremydale4548 A company that specializes in videos should probably watch a single video of the company they’re reviewing to learn about the product here or there. I want educated reviewers, not elitist manchildren who walk on set and phone it in. Is it really a hot take to ask people to try a little?

[@joshl.s.4939]

Ironically, "We had a disagreement, but I really do like the product" is a better advertisement for the product than a sponsored post... It reads more genuine.

[@ironhelix45]

man linus is right in his handling of the situation. I think is oura's issue. Like he said when you spell stuff weird don't get upset when people pronounce it wrong. Just typing this up Oura gets the red line of misspelt.

[@quadsnipershot]

Like the parent that named her kid abcde for absidy

[@haxkztasy]

Yup, its like as if Coca Cola was spelling their product "Goca Gola" and wanted evryone to pronounce it "Coca Cola" makes 0 fucking sense lol

[@alejandroelcid]

The thing is English is a strange language, is Oura pronounced "Our-aa" (arr-aa), is it "Oo-ra" (ou- as in in the word through)? It is completely the company's fault and their petty reaction makes them look bad.

[@frankmthompson]

@@alejandroelcid I pronounced it like the word "our" with an "a" at the end (in my head).

[@joshuaboniface]

@@alejandroelcid English has so many dialects (literally dozens up into the hundreds depending on who you ask) that, for the most part, vary in the pronunciation of vowels and vowel combinations (called diphthongs) like "au" and "ou". Expecting the general public across the entire English-speaking world to know that "oura" = "aura" as pronounced by a Vancouverite is beyond asinine. If you're going for "interesting" or just generally non-English names, you *have* to acknowledge and accept that not everyone is going to pronounce them the same way (imagine them freaking at an Aussie or Brit for how they'd pronounce it "correctly"). Either put IPA symbols or references in your product marketing or drop the ego Oura.

[@gregbits6109]

So it was nothing to do with all the negative comments on the video?

[@Handl3sAreStupid]

The Amazon tampon video is still up...

[@jeremydale4548]

Negative comments?

[@jaybird0312]

@@jeremydale4548 Oura got absolutely slayed in the comments about the monthly subscription you have to pay to use ANY and ALL features of the ring. Without the subscription, it's just a piece of metal. Every single comment said "it's cool but I'm not paying every month to use it" I think the price was 9 bucks. I may be wrong.

[@jaybird0312]

@@jeremydale4548 Oura got absolutely slayed in the comments about the monthly subscription you have to pay to use ANY and ALL features of the ring. Without the subscription, it's just a piece of metal. Every single comment said "it's cool but I'm not paying every month to use it" I think the price was 9 bucks. I may be wrong.

[@AuraMaster_7]

Whats even more ridiculous is that they spell their company as "Ōura" in their logo. Ō means that it *would* be pronounced likr you thought it was.

[@DivineStride]

The 'O' is for the ring is my guess. Something that is both obvious and communicated psychically. If the pronunciation is that important for a business, then it should be communicated through their branding guidelines and sent with their media kit.

[@___DRIP___]

No it shouldn’t. It should just be spelled correctly in the first place. You can’t expect the world to listen to your pronunciation first, and then use it from now on. No company has that big of an outreach. The spelling dictates its pronunciation, just like every other word on the planet. Look at Gif. The inventors say that it’s meant to sound like Jif, everyone else says gif because that’s the most intuitive. Even companies like Nike have this issue. They say Ni-key, everyone else says Nike, but at least there the spelling is correct

[@Revolyze]

@@___DRIP___ It is spelled correctly. They are not pronounced as "Aura" like where Linus insults them at 4:58, they are pronounced as Ohra, like Tōkyō, which is pretty much the go to pronunciation for vowels when dealing with words of unknown origin.

[@___DRIP___]

@@Revolyze Then why use the U? If it’s Oh-ra then spell it Ōra. It makes no sense which is why everyone has issues with it

[@nikolaoslibero]

@@___DRIP___ Because とうきょう(toukyou). The う(u) extends お (o) sounds. So yeah, if someone wants something they should take responsibility to get it, like the pronunciation of their name that wasn't spelled wrong.

[@___DRIP___]

@@nikolaoslibero They’re a Finnish company bro. Not sure why Japanese is relevant here

[@sizaint]

Honesty and transparency are of upmost value in a content creator who you want information from, good clip.

[@zidbits1528]

I agree. But it seems like all the commentors are blaming Oura for this mix-up. I find that incredibly odd. Oura is the client, the customer in this scenario -- they're paying LMG for the sponsored video. Is it the customer's job to make sure you know how to say their name correctly? Of course not. If I paid for a sponsored video, and the entire video my product was pronounced incorrectly, I'd be very upset. Especially since I'd assume and expect the company I was paying to do research on the product they're going to sponsor -- you know, watch videos, tech clips, other promotional material where the name gets said, etc. I would be especially careful with pronunciation if I was Canadian and my viewership was largely American as well, since certain words are not only said differently, but spelled differently. I'm sure this is an issue that has come up before, multiple times. Mistakes happen obviously, it's unavoidable so I empathize with Linus. It's the commentors blindly defending him I'm more interested in. It's fascinating to watch.

[@jeremytine]

but bad take from linus

[@jklmnopski7421]

If I recall correctly, IKEA was pronounced “ee-kay-uh” in Swedish, but they accepted and went with the “eye-kee-uh” pronunciation that the consumers came up with.

[@kiminimuchu__]

Honestly, that's what all brands should do. The easier it is for costumers to talk about your brand the best for your business, no point in being mad about the pronunciation, just roll with it.

[@Jason.rimando]

For how big of a company LTT is they should have done the due diligence. But at the same time, Oura should’ve been more lenient on a compromise.

[@frankmthompson]

@@Jason.rimando Or Oura should have sent a pronunciation guide if it was that important.

[@Jason.rimando]

@@frankmthompson Oura could have sent a brand guide with all that information. We don't know if they did or did not. But we do know is that Linus went in cold turkey on the ad without any research on his end. The crew should take some blame too, they should've corrected him if they knew beforehand.

[@frankmthompson]

@@Jason.rimando Both of which LInus admitted, so I don't see the argument here? We don't know if they sent a pronunciation guide or not as Linus didn't mention. If they did, bad on the LTT crew. If they didn't, honest mistake. In the end, Oura messed up, IMO. Getting all petty on how your name is pronounced is stupid and bad for business. Linus obviously likes the product and they would have only benefitted from the video. Now they get nothing (they = oura), except some press on their pettiness.

[@BombShot]

Idk what twitch chat is on, what they seem to think Linus said is, "I did no wrong, heck oura and heck my staff!" Idk how they get that from him saying, I made a mistake, oura made a fuss, my team made a decision, all of this is dumb and could've been easily resolved. It's not frustration because Linus can do no wrong, it's frustration because this really doesn't seem like a massive problem and they could've moved forward with a video from Linus, a funny joke to maybe use, and no burned bridges. Here we are though. Also just a side note, funny ass advert could've been gained. Just imagine a product ad that's standard for he first 15 seconds, the. It's the product image and it's just Linus cutting off the voice over saying the name wrong until he mutes and says it right. I swear silicon valley is so uncreative it makes me sad.

[@Weeble_Warbles]

I feel Linus' frustration in this video towards the criticism for being transparent. Literally why I choose very carefully who I share information with because often times it's largely a waste of time and just leads to a useless debate or argument with no path to resolution. People just wanting to point the finger over and over because it makes them feel superior.

[@dtemp132]

I feel like Linus shouldn't be reading chat during WAN Show, there will always be a bunch of idiots and neckbeards ruining it, only more over time, just do the show for the majority of normal people. The chat during the episode with the warranty controversy was ridiculous; just children who have nothing better to do but rile up each other and spam chat

[@yourguysheppy]

Gotta love armchair KZbinrs... if they could do it better, then they should start a tech channel to prove everyone wrong. Otherwise they can stuff any non-constructive criticisms where the sun doesn't shine. Linus isn't perfect but he's always been straight-up with the audience and I respect that

[@TachibanaTengoku]

The criticism is valid on both sides. Linus did partially blame his staff for not informing him, though he does admit he likely would not have made a different decision anyways, and also blamed the company for being hard headed and not just accepting a compromise and instead choosing to burn a bridge over 1 letter pronunciation difference. That being said, he's right. If you keep critiquing him on minor shit like this, why be transparent with the community at all? Just throw a PR person and PR speak all the time.

[@rar23424]

I mean he did completely throw Colton & the business team under the bus for pulling the video.

[@ellie_cr]

Damn...I would think they'd be happy for all of the traffic and potential purchases the video brought them. Shame they wouldn't be happy with a funny video edit that fixes their name pronunciation. Tons of other reviewers are also mispronouncing the name too so its just too bad thats how things ended.

[@haxkztasy]

its pretty much their problem and no one elses, they specificly decided to name their product "Oura" and that ofc. comes with alot of confusion and will have alot of people mispronounce their name, cause "Aura = Aura" and "Oura = Oura" you can just be like: "imma name my product Oura and have it said like Aura" like cmon... how fucking stupid is that? thats like as if i named a product: "Goca Gola" and want evryone to pronounce it like "Coca Cola" lol

[@frankmthompson]

@@DrunkenDove Same here. I found the product independently of this video or original WAN video and as soon as I saw subscription I ran.

[@egustafson]

Makes them look like sticks in the mud. Bummer

[@Wommii]

Aside from the actual reason for the video, when Linus says that there is no point in republishing the video after it has been uploaded and the initial burst of views comes in, that made me kind of upset. Yes I understand this is a business for them and they need to make smart business decisions but there are a TON of people out there (I am one of them) that look up a product on youtube before they purchase it because I want to see reviews. And LTT is a channel I trust to give me informed videos about the product even if they pronounced the name wrong. So just a little side note that im sure the LTT crew will never see, I would really appreciate it if when a video is taken down for one reason or another and you have the ability to put it back up please do, because it is still informative and helpful for us!

[@LysergicKids]

I can't believe *areola* had such an intense reaction over their name being mispronounced.

[@orangeapples]

I do understand. As far as branding goes you want to get ahead of issues, especially on a big channel to advertise the product and your brand. But I do think Oura went about it wrong. If you are not traditionally spelled, then provide a pronunciation guide.

[@Bardghost_Isu]

Yeah, could have all been avoided if the company had sent across a heads up to watch the pronunciation of their name as they surely know this isn’t the only time it’s being pronounced wrong.

[@TNM001]

if you don't know how to pronounce something...ask? they YOLOed it basically. this is not you and me...they took a job they wanted to be payed for. this is like...i don't know, painting a room blue without knowing which shade of blue...but hey, what could go wrong, we can do damage control later when the owners are pissy, right?

[@dbpeanut510]

@@TNM001 The problem with that is that paint is a costly endeavor to fix. The issue here is that a large number of people pronounce Oura "incorrectly" since there's no pronunciation guide or anything of that sort. Really on Oura, not on anybody else.

[@InfiniteDarkMass]

I agree. The first thing you should see when you open the box is a pronunciation guide. Then to activate the ring you need to put it on your finger and say its name. If you fail, it self-destructs, taking your finger with it. I genuinely love the idea. *winkie

[@InfiniteDarkMass]

@@TNM001 Except everyone can tell at a glance how to pronounce that word, and it's not how they're saying it. If they wanted to be "special" and "creative" about it, maybe they should've let their partners know.

[@RiceAndRun]

What I love is that Linus’ pronunciation of “Aura” is different to how we say it in England, with a British accent; to me it feels like Linus is “ still” saying it wrong, but you can’t really fault a person for having an accent. It’s fascinating on how a company with an irregular name can be so uptight about how their company name is said. Generally I think people lose track that communication is about understanding context. As long as you know what you’re referring to and get you message across it should be a big deal.

[@EpicMrBlack6869]

Imagine paying a monthly subscription for a ring......

[@jeremydale4548]

There REALLY should be regulation on that. Like, companies are becoming too greedy and will make anything a subscription these days.

[@anonony9081]

Pretty stupid comment. It's not just a ring, it's a fitness/wellness tracker. Whether you think paying a subscription for that is stupid is another question but it's not unheard of, the whoop band has the same business model and most free to use fitness trackers, like fitbit, have subscription tiers as well.

[@Samuel1337]

@@anonony9081 its a ring

[@thetruestar6348]

@@anonony9081 so a Apple Watch but in a ring

[@StreetPreacherr]

a SMART ring! And NOW it seems you better be careful with your language while wearing the thing. If the ring senses you MISPRONOUNCING it's name then it might just CANCEL you SUBSCRIPTION and leave you with NOTHING!

[@MCstutta]

I'm not gonna say I was fully planning on buying an Oura ring but I was at least open to it and if the conditions were right (mostly regarding price and/or subscription), I would have bought one based off of your glowing review. Knowing that this is how they handle things, I'm much less inclined now.

[@smnbrgss]

Sounds like good product, poor pr management

[@wenlisman]

@@smnbrgss PR management is important when you are using the ring.

[@wenlisman]

@@xPRODIGYxGAMER It was sarcasm

[@natasjailnyckyj2674]

@@xPRODIGYxGAMER my opinion has nothing to do with LMG, more so how the company runs and their attitudes. why would i want to support a bunch of crybabies

[@billyponsonby]

I used to work for a firm with a difficult name. The owner would get so angry at mis pronunciations that he’d yell at customers down the phone

[@black_n5492]

I'm of the opinion that some business relationships (partnerships/customer etc.) are not worth the hassle. I've also found it to be important to work with people who extend grace to others. Totally respect your decision to avoid working with them. It's not about fault it's about relationship dynamics.

[@angrydragonslayer]

Yeah.... I'd say it's still about fault If you harshly demand someone take responsibily for an easy mistake that you in no way did any work to prevent, you are at fault at least as much as them if not more. (Extreme example: a company buying non-LOTO machines and then losing the factory over it because some blue-shirt started one with a tech still inside)

[@avroday949]

And then there was Steve from GN

[@TheMorteReport]

Oura sounds like a parent who gives their child a name with a quirky spelling and then gets angry when you don't pronounce it how they intended.

[@PluralPaul]

Wondering if we're gonna get a review for a different smart ring in the future. Would love to know how effect they are, and how practical in real-world scenarios.

[@fastgecko5799]

To the last couple minutes of the video, I, and I think a lot of us, appreciate transparency. It's why I bought some stuff from your store: you guys are so honest about how you operate and what you do that I feel good about supporting your company. Don't ever stop being transparent about what you do. The vocal minority that are going to give you a hard time no matter what aren't worth your time or energy.

[@Kymlaar]

There's no issue with transparency, really. It is the fact that he named a "newbie" employee by name on stream as the owner of the company. It might be light hearted, but that is rough. So yeah, the explanation is excellent, but as a leader you take the hit yourself publicly, and then discuss internally. Not a big deal, but an important thing for him to remember as his company gets bigger and bigger.

[@MrTsolar]

@@Kymlaar I'd rather take the (light-hearted) public shaming than deal with the corporate "accountability at all costs". We all screw up. I don't care that somebody messed up, it's what they do next that shows the kind of person they are.

[@Kymlaar]

@@MrTsolar there’s a middle ground.. it’s no corporate accountability at all costs, and no public shaming. It’s always “lighthearted” to the boss, but to the employee it can range from minor to crushing, and we may never know. So the best bet is to just not do that.

[@MrTsolar]

@@Kymlaar I was speaking from the point of view of the employee and how I'd want my boss to treat me. I've had both, and I much prefer what Linus did in the video over what happened at my last job. Besides, Linus seems to treat his people well and fosters an environment that includes some ribbing, and given that Linus shared fault and admitted that pulling the video is likely what he would've done anyway, I don't think any harm was done. If the employee has a problem, Linus seems like an approachable boss and they can sit down and discuss it (maybe they did beforehand and he was okay with Linus calling him out, we don't know what happens off-camera). Sometimes a deal just goes south and there's little to do to prevent it. Learn what you can and move on.

[@DarrinLin]

linus threw the newbie under the bus with how he phrased that comment and he really didn’t have to because nothing about the point of this video would have changed if he didn’t make that comment at all. linus is also doing his typical double-standard hot-take. on one end he’s giving advice to resolve issues with productive dialog rather than instigating arguments or participating in arguing who’s at fault. then he follows it up with making childish imitation quotes from their ex-sponsor. how do you expect people to reply to you if you “lightheartedly” mock them in front of millions of subscribers?

[@maharaja101]

That's honestly kinda hilarious as even here in Finland where the company is based, NOBODY calls them aura

[@EmpyrealEndemic]

Probably why they're so heated lmao

[@chaos.corner]

My take: A company with a froo-froo name should have made extra effort to make sure the pronunciation was understood when it came to sponsored videos but also Linus's attempt to slack out of doing it properly was not a good move either (along the lines of "trust us").

[@timothymclain]

Love the transparency. So lacking in most companies, large and small. Cheers to you Linus!

[@bbg5000]

Yeah, I love him telling a Finnish company how they should speak fugging ENGLISH. lol, way to go Linus! Now tell that to hispanics.

[@oneedgyboi606]

@@bbg5000 their spelling and pronunciation also doesn't make sense in Finnish.

[@toastedchoom4347]

Honestly I would of pronounced this "O"ura over Aura too, that is a really honest mistake to make. It also seems lately a lot of people who get to catch wan show live just go there to try and challenge Linus & Luke then just get shot down for it kek.

[@marcogonzalez1451]

Since I had the misfortune of ordering the wrong size and needed to exchange it, Oura now refuses to accept a return of a ring that’s not working. In multiple emails they have not asked what the problem is to try to help fix it. 😢 There’s nowhere to leave a review.

[@OsaculnenolajO]

Ou is pronounced 'oo' in the majority of English words. If they were consistent with the 'Ōura'' spelling in their marketing I could understand. But they totally aren't. When you Google Oura every single search item is spelled 'Oura'. Even on their official site, only the site header is spelled 'Ōura', any other mentioning in copy text or sub headings is all spelled without the Ō. If they wanted people to say it a certain way, and spell it a certain way they should have done so themselves, and definitely should have made that clear to everyone else.

[@tams805]

Also, most English speakers have no idea how to pronounce 'Ō'. Hell, it changes between languages. Considering English speakers are a large part of their target market...

[@AmenoMagatsu]

The comment about starting an email with "i may have misunderstood what you said" is so good I do this so much at work when i just cant be bothered getting into the details of what may have gone wrong and just want a resolution instead of defending and argueing

[@sjokomelk]

Same. I got a phone call the other day at work from someone angry for me setting up a new user account with the wrong kind of username. I used their standard of an abbriviation of the users name. But they had changed that January 1st to firstname.lastname. But that info wasn't given to me. So I said "Oh, I'm sorry. There must have been a misunderstanding, because you sent me an e-mail with the username you wanted in the abbriviated form, so I did just that." And the person on the other end chilled out and realized that I had only done as they had asked me.

[@JohnDoe-ih8xu]

“I may have misunderstood what you said” just shows incompetence. I’d rather have someone fight with me so it doesn’t happen again in the future and we get to an understanding. Sweeping things under the rug to move forward is bad business practice and bad in general. Linus is being glib about the situation

[@Onyvox]

As a tech support guy I feel this. You if the customer is constantly trying to fight you - nothing they want fixed will be. Stop, breathe and give me details on how exactly something isn't working and how do you expect it to.

[@soundguydon]

I personally like the fact that you folks at LTT always tell it like it is -- even when it's a screwup on your end. I actually enjoy people who just do "real" talk instead of hiding behind pretty words and butt-kissing PR people. Keep up the good work on transparency and speaking out however you folks see fit.

[@miksumgc]

Loved your reaction to this! You are absolutely correct about trying to find a fix that works for both. When error is made. And yes... Oura is a finnish company and its pronaunced oura in finnish language... not aura.. Aura is a beer brand in Finland so maby the name they wanted was taken

[@stamzthehuman897]

The people in the comments are forgetting that this is someone paid thousands of dollars for a sponsor but couldn't pronounce the name of the person giving them thousands of dollars. That's not okay. Why wouldn't you be pissed?

[@GarethJohnson]

I feel like Linus really missed the point here. LTT screwed up first, Oura did not (whatever their subsequent reaction). Since it was a sponsored clip, LTT as a high quality operation should have just taken its mistake on the chin and reshot it so that the new video was a fresh take that people would have viewed again. Change the context; get some other people involved in the review; find a new angle; whatever. When you screw up in business, you fix it at no cost to the customer. Instead they asked the customer to accept defective product and be happy about it. That's not right. You don't want the client to react like an asshat either but at the end of the day you have to fix what you break as a product / service provider. This *did* sound like customer blaming even despite the "we screwed up" and Linus, plainly irritated about the whole thing, did blame the team and then kinda tried and backtrack that "maybe I would have made the same decision". Still blamed the team first. WAN show is often Linus's vent arena and sometimes it does show the boss-needs-some-fresh-perspectives angle to being in the lonely place at the top. IMVHO.

[@tom9571]

Jon Rettinger pronounced Oura the same way as you [the proper way imo] and his video is still up, with no edits that mention this. I wonder if he has had the same issues you had or if it's just Oura being tense and knee-jerking from the previous things you suggested...

[@SrSecca]

Yep, my thoughts exactly. Just an excuse to pull the video for something else. Maybe the anti-subscription sentiment in the comments?

[@verymeta]

their logo even has a line over the O as if it were pronounced OH-Ra

[@aravindiyengar]

wait I always thought that there was a process to send the video to the sponsor to check for faults before the posting/ video goes live date? Maybe that's something that needs to be implemented. If they don't check in time- their fault they had the chance to catch any errors, and you did your due diligence

[@ben_the_potato]

Thank you for explaining it. Its a really interesting story

[@grenzviel4480]

Let me get this straight. They're gathering very personal user data AND you gotta pay them for it in bulk plus monthly? So not only they made profit from the ring, they also can gather + sell your data, plus they get a bonus with subscription fee too? Nuts

[@makeritualnoise]

one of my favorite things ive learned via self help was from john bradshaw: when you think you're right, you've killed your creativity. when you think you're right, you no longer consider other options on how to address something. i agree with linus that just assigning blame doesn't move thing forwards, just as oura believing that he should have known the pronunciation and not being open to fixes ruined the relationship. linus showed that he messed up, things happened that he wasn't a part of, and there is now discussion for moving forward to avoid this thing. that is a great stance to take.

[@tc2241]

This brings sheets and giggles to mind. I don’t know who manages their social network, but they’ve got a great sense of humor

[@anderssn]

Not sure why they expect english speaking people to pronounce it in a finnish way. (Finnish pronounces letters differently, especially vowels)

[@intiblade]

That's really interesting from a language standpoint. Many brands had to adapt to the way we say their names in other languages. An interesting example is Colgate, in English you said col-gate, but in Spanish is col-ga (like Ghana)-te (like tennis). Did Colgate made a scene because of that? Of course not. They don't care about how you pronounce the name, but that you buy their product!

[@AnAnonymousAuditor]

unrelated, but i always found it funny that "colgate" means hang yourself in spanish (argentinian dialect to be precise)

[@jitgtij]

I love the fact that you try to be proactively transparent. Thats good and that is what I love about you❤❤

[@StinkyBuster]

Their pronunciation makes more sense than if it was spelt aura. They are basically saying the word "our" with an "a" on the end.