Famous Global Marketing Mistakes
READ THIS WHOLE THING IT WILL MAKE YOU GIGGLE
The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk? " prompted
them to expand advertising to_ Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention that
the Spanish translation read, "Are you lactating?"
International Journal of Management Vol. 21 No. 3 September 2004 319
Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer
From Diarrhea."
The Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following logo in an
American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into Germany only to find out
that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "Manure
Stick."
When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging
as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa,
companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what's inside the package, since
many people can't read.
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious
porno magazine.
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market, which
promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope " (el Papa); the shirts read,
"I Saw the Potato " (la papa).
Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings
Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.
The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the
wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with.wax", depending on the dialect. Coke
then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokou kole ",
translating into "happiness in the mouth."
Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken "
was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken
affectionate."
When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to
have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." The company
thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the
ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant!"
When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the
Mexican market, it translated its "Fly In Leather" campaign literally, which
meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en cuero) in Spanish.
The American Motor Corporation named one of its products the "Matador" to
create images of strength and virility. However, "Matador" means "killer" in
Puerto Rico, where the traffic fatality rate is exceedingly high. It's imperative to
conduct an evaluation of names prior to introducing a product on the
market (http://www.eelobal^reetin^s.com/freearticles.htm)
When GM introduced its Chevy Nova into the Spanish market, it failed to first
investigate whether the product name had an adverse meaning. GM subsequently
learned that Nova ("no va") in Spanish means, "It won't go (Famous
Globalmarketingmistakes. http://www.webofculture.com/worldsmart/articles/
mistakes.html. International Do's and Don'ts; Hartly 1980; Ricks 1983; Cateora
2000; Wild 2001; Gorman 1994; Terpestra 1985, Firoz 2001; Gilster, 1996)[
READ THIS WHOLE THING IT WILL MAKE YOU GIGGLE
The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk? " prompted
them to expand advertising to_ Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention that
the Spanish translation read, "Are you lactating?"
International Journal of Management Vol. 21 No. 3 September 2004 319
Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer
From Diarrhea."
The Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following logo in an
American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into Germany only to find out
that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "Manure
Stick."
When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging
as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa,
companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what's inside the package, since
many people can't read.
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious
porno magazine.
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market, which
promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope " (el Papa); the shirts read,
"I Saw the Potato " (la papa).
Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings
Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.
The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the
wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with.wax", depending on the dialect. Coke
then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokou kole ",
translating into "happiness in the mouth."
Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken "
was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken
affectionate."
When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to
have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." The company
thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the
ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant!"
When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the
Mexican market, it translated its "Fly In Leather" campaign literally, which
meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en cuero) in Spanish.
The American Motor Corporation named one of its products the "Matador" to
create images of strength and virility. However, "Matador" means "killer" in
Puerto Rico, where the traffic fatality rate is exceedingly high. It's imperative to
conduct an evaluation of names prior to introducing a product on the
market (http://www.eelobal^reetin^s.com/freearticles.htm)
When GM introduced its Chevy Nova into the Spanish market, it failed to first
investigate whether the product name had an adverse meaning. GM subsequently
learned that Nova ("no va") in Spanish means, "It won't go (Famous
Globalmarketingmistakes. http://www.webofculture.com/worldsmart/articles/
mistakes.html. International Do's and Don'ts; Hartly 1980; Ricks 1983; Cateora
2000; Wild 2001; Gorman 1994; Terpestra 1985, Firoz 2001; Gilster, 1996)[
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
Very funny.