Originally Posted by
noglider
Right, I get it now. Anyway, Shimano doesn't have radio or TV ads. I just looked, and I see they do have a youtube channel, but does anyone watch it? I imagine that people don't normally hear how Shimano pronounces its product names. Years ago, I learned that Sugino is pronounced with a hard g, and for years, most people used a soft g. Similar story for other Japanese bike products. We don't communicate much in audio between Japan and the west, so we make up our pronunciations, and they transmit by folklore. That's why it doesn't surprise me that Spanish speakers saw the name and pronounced it in the obvious way for them.
Oh, I found Shimano Latinamerica. Their ad for Cues is in English!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g048QoDJbzQ
Shimano doesn't need TV or radio ads. Millions of people around the world understand English and watch English-language videos. YouTube channels like GCN's often deal directly with Shimano representatives, so the GCN guys would know how "Cues" is to be pronounced.
And about the supposed pronunciation of "Cues" as "kwess" or whatever it was: that's the English word "Cues" with a Spanish accent, not an official Spanish pronunciation. Watch interviews with racers after any pro race: speaking to an interviewer who speaks English, they respond in English, though usually with some degree of accent.
About pronunciation of Japanese product names: one data point I can offer is that Kozo Shimano, son of the president of the company, spoke perfectly accent-free American English and pronounced product names the same way every cyclist I knew did. (He was a member of the Hopkins collegiate cycling team when our bike shop sponsored them.) Never heard him say "Sugino" or "Tange," though.
The word "Cues" is not spoken in the video, so I'm not sure what your point was in posting it.