Oldies But Goodies - Marketing Communication Breakdowns
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.
Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave",
in Chinese.
When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the beautiful Caucasian baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read. Oh yummm....
Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea."
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).
Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick."
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." Instead, 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." |
