Post by edricz on Oct 8, 2005 22:33:20 GMT 7
Even big companies made mistakes
1. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux
used the following in an American ad
campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
2. The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered
as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company
did not discover until after thousands of signs had
been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax
tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax"
depending on the dialect. Coke then researched
40,000 Chinese characters and found a close
phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can be
loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
3. In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi
slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation"
came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back
from the dead."
4. Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken
slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your
fingers off."
5. The American slogan for Salem
cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated
in the Japanese market into "When smoking
Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind
seems to be free and empty."
6. When General Motors introduced the Chevy
Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware
that "no va" means "it won't go." After the
company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars,
it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the
Caribe.
7. Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the
Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto
was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals". Ford
pried all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel,
which means horse.
8. When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in
Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't
leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However,
the company's mistakenly thought the spanish
word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the
ads said that "It wont leak in your pocket and
make you pregnant."
9. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed
shirts for the spanish market which promoted the
Pope's visit. Instead of the desired "I Saw the
Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I Saw the
Potato."
10. Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan, "It takes
a tough man to make a tender chicken," got
terribly mangled in another Spanish translation. A
photo of Perdue with one of his birds appeared on
billboards all over Mexico with a caption that
explained "It takes a hard man to make a chicken
aroused."
11. Hunt-Wesson introduced its Big John products
in French Canada as Gros Jos before finding out
that the phrase, in slang, means "big breasts." In
this case, however, the name problem did not have
a noticeable effect on sales.
12. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France
called Cue, the name of a notorious porno mag.
13. In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic
Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet
Water.
14. Japan's second-largest tourist agency was
mystified when it entered English-speaking
markets and began receiving requests for unusual
sex tours. Upon finding out why, the owners of
Kinki Nippon Tourist Company changed its name
1. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux
used the following in an American ad
campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
2. The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered
as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company
did not discover until after thousands of signs had
been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax
tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax"
depending on the dialect. Coke then researched
40,000 Chinese characters and found a close
phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can be
loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
3. In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi
slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation"
came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back
from the dead."
4. Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken
slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your
fingers off."
5. The American slogan for Salem
cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated
in the Japanese market into "When smoking
Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind
seems to be free and empty."
6. When General Motors introduced the Chevy
Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware
that "no va" means "it won't go." After the
company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars,
it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the
Caribe.
7. Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the
Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto
was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals". Ford
pried all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel,
which means horse.
8. When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in
Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't
leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However,
the company's mistakenly thought the spanish
word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the
ads said that "It wont leak in your pocket and
make you pregnant."
9. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed
shirts for the spanish market which promoted the
Pope's visit. Instead of the desired "I Saw the
Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I Saw the
Potato."
10. Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan, "It takes
a tough man to make a tender chicken," got
terribly mangled in another Spanish translation. A
photo of Perdue with one of his birds appeared on
billboards all over Mexico with a caption that
explained "It takes a hard man to make a chicken
aroused."
11. Hunt-Wesson introduced its Big John products
in French Canada as Gros Jos before finding out
that the phrase, in slang, means "big breasts." In
this case, however, the name problem did not have
a noticeable effect on sales.
12. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France
called Cue, the name of a notorious porno mag.
13. In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic
Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet
Water.
14. Japan's second-largest tourist agency was
mystified when it entered English-speaking
markets and began receiving requests for unusual
sex tours. Upon finding out why, the owners of
Kinki Nippon Tourist Company changed its name
