> From: Meghan Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Bad Marketing Translations > > 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 the Spanish translation read "Are > you lactating?" > > Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into > Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer From > Diarrhea." > > Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux > used the following 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, since > many people can't read. > > Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France > called Cue, the name of a notorious pornographic > 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 ball-point 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 -- Indi Soemardjan Be my guest: http://pagina.de/indradi
