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Famous Brand Name Blunders
Posted By: Michele on 9/28/2004 4:43 AM (CST) 500 Points
I am trying to track down the example of the car name which translated literally into Spanish into 'small balls'.

Any other examples of classic name blunders would be welcome.

Posted by: Carl Crawford Member Response
9/28/2004 5:08 AM (CST)
hi michele,

have a look at www.engrish.com

also here are another one

there is a drink called SARS made by golden cricle that is sold in new zealand.

if i think of any more i will post back!!!

Carl Crawford,
 
Posted by: Ricky Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 5:47 AM (CST)
The Chevy Nova was exported and the name wasn't changed. "No va" in spanish means "doesn't work".
 
Posted by: Michele Author Response
9/28/2004 5:51 AM (CST)
The Chevy Nova example is a myth.
See http://spanish.about.com/cs/culture/a/chevy_nova_2.htm
 
Posted by: virago* Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 5:54 AM (CST)
The Mitsubishi Pajero (pronounced pakhairo) means 'wanker' in Spanish. The car is sold in Australia and I think in some Asian countries.

Not the one you were after but still quite funny.

There was also german chocolate bar called Zit.

Also when I was backpacking through Africa 6 years ago I went through one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi. There was a brand of cigarettes called, Life. You could buy it for about a $1 a pack.

Ironic hey!
 
Posted by: virago* Member Response
9/28/2004 6:23 AM (CST)
The biggest business model blunder was that Satellite phone company, Meridian. Spent billions for the wrong business model.
 
Posted by: Stokefire* Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 8:20 AM (CST)
I seem to recall a European hair spray product called "Piss" (Meaning "spray").

Also - there's a product out in asian markets now called Pokari Sweat. It's in a big clear plastic bottle, and contains a clouded liquid that easily could pass in appearance for a liter of, well... sweat. I keep it on my desk as a reminder to check names with locals before selling in foreign markets.

Tate
 
Posted by: D4Demand Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 9:13 AM (CST)
Until the 80's, in the USA, there was a chocolate flavored candy-style appetite suppressant (diet aid) called AYDS.
 
Posted by: rubukas Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 9:29 AM (CST)
.. hhe.. there was also an italian company that had a product ( im unsure what is was... its an example from a school book actually) , they called ASSPANK ... when trying to expand its domain, they just couldnt understand why they were adviced to change its name.. it had always worked GREAT in Italy .. heheheheh...

-vidar-
 
Posted by: rubukas Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 9:33 AM (CST)
Also.. i seem to recall VOLVO had a problem when trying to expand to Japan... something about VOLVO relating to female genitals .... heh..

then , Honda i believe, tried to introduce Honda FITTA in Scandinavia, not knowing that FITTA is a VERY vulgar name for the female genitals .. heheh.. the world is full of cross cultural mishaps.. and theire just as funny EVERY time.. heheh

-vidar-
 
Posted by: thinkmor Member Response
9/28/2004 9:36 AM (CST)
Hi Michele

A few examples:

Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea."

Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people uses the "manure stick".

Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free", was translated into the Japanese market as "When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the beautiful 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 English.

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).

In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into "Schweppes Toilet Water."

Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave," in Chinese.

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 mistakenly thought the spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the ads said that "It wont leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

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."

Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off."

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.

Interestingly enough I found some foreign product names which don't sound too hot once translated:

Clean Finger Nail - Chinese tissues

Kolic - Japanese mineral water

Creap Creamy Powder - Japanese Coffee Creamer

Swine - Chinese chocolates

Libido - Chinese soda

Pocari Sweat - Japanese sport drink

Shocking - Japanese chewing gum

Cat Wetty - Japanese moistened hand towels

Pipi - Yugoslavian orangeade

Polio - Czechoslovakian laundry detergent

Crundy - Japanese gourmet candy

Superglans - Netherlands car wax

I'm Dripper - Japanese instant coffee

Zit - Greek soft drink

Colon Plus - Spanish detergent

Oh yes, and here are some slogans that never made it to the corporate table:

Microsoft: "How much are you going to pay today?"

MTV: "Loud and easy to spell."

Saks 5th Avenue: "You Could Shop Here if You're Poor, But That Would be Stupid!"

Iguana: "The other green meat."

Nike: "Just buy the shoes, you flabby spineless lump!"

Daisy Air Rifles: "Keeping kids off your lawn for over forty years."

Canon Photocopiers: "Quit calling them Xeroxes!"

Apple MacIntosh: "Hey, we thought of it first!"

Radio Shack: "You've got questions, we've got geek losers!"

Professional Bowling on NBC: "Oh, why don't you just go ahead and kill yourself instead?"


There, I feel better now!


Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: thinkmor Member Response
9/28/2004 9:59 AM (CST)
Hi Michele

This link has just dropped in from another foreign brand:

http://ad-rag.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=108404

It's a pretty good contender against Swedish candybar Plopp and another Danish candybar called Spunk

Good laugh anyway!

Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: Carl Crawford Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 10:04 AM (CST)
i just remembered another one,

their was a pharmaceutical company(i cant remember the name) that made a drug that helped people feel better. well what else would it do Carl i hear you ask?

well the company expanded into the middle east and made there labels have pictures on them showing a person sick, then taking the drug then feeling better. later the company started losing money by the bucket load. it turns out that in Arabic people read from the right to the left instead of the way English specking people read left to right.

the people in the middle east read the label with pictures because of the low literacy levels. they read the label as showing a healthy person, then the person taking the drug, then being sick.

Carl Crawford
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Member Response
9/28/2004 10:18 AM (CST)
here is another one.

Ford Motors launched a car under the name "Pinto" in Brazil but it turned out the Pinto in brazilian mean "small male sex organ" and had to change the name
to "Corcel" which means Horse.

cheers!!
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 10:24 AM (CST)
here is some more adding to Zahid's long list.

- " ColaCola Enjoy" had to be changed to "Drink CocaCola" in Russia as enjoy is perceived to be associated with sexual sensations.

- PepsiCola lost it dominant market share to Coke in South East Asia when Pepsi changed the color of its vending machines and coolers from deep "Regal" blue to light "Ice" blue as Light blue is associated with death and mourning in SE Asia.

- AT&T showed a Thumbs Up (you see the front side in the ad) ad in US and other parts of the world, but in Russia and POland thumbs up like that manner had offensive feeling of "F*** You". so AT&T had to change the ad and for Russia and Poland they showed the Thumbs Up ad by showing the back side of the thumb.

LOL and cheers!!
 
Posted by: thinkmor Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 10:29 AM (CST)
Sorry forgot about:

Rolls Royce 'Silver Mist' - name had to changed in Germany because Mist means 'dung' or 's*!t' in German, they changed the name to Silver Cloud.

An Irish Whiskey also Marketed 'Irish Mist' in Germany.

Johnny Depp's surname unfortunately means 'imbecile' in German - Depp.

A few acronymns maybe useful:

Ever wonder what FIAT means?
"Fix It Again, Tony..." ?

Actually, it stands for Fabrica Italiana di Automobili Torino... Mark's father (an Italian-Canadian to the bone) still likes the first one...

Maybe Ford has a better acronym in Italian... "Fatto Oggi, Rotto Domani" (Made today, broken tomorrow)...

Old one from China from the 80's - Thumbs Up - toilet paper

Bathrooms accessories in Asia - 'Aroma' pirated from an Australian manufacturer Caroma.

(My 1st post containing foreign examples were actual English Names used abroad not translated to clarify)

Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Member Response
9/28/2004 11:30 AM (CST)
Hi Zahid

you mentioned
"Old one from China from the 80's - Thumbs Up - toilet paper"

well in India the maket leader in Carbonated Soft Drinks brand is "Thumbs Up", owned by none other than Coca Cola.

irony, hah!
 
Posted by: thinkmor Member Response
9/28/2004 11:41 AM (CST)
¨?, ?e

Lucky it isn't in the Eastern Block like Poland where the hand symbol of 'Thumbs Up' is the same as 'F**k !@O'

Also, the circular finger OK gesture is short for "homosexual'
in Turkish.

I think this is enough from me.

Cheers!

Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: Michele Author Response
9/28/2004 12:49 PM (CST)
Sourced from
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/archive/index.php/t-125.html

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."

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.

In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet Water.

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.

and finally...

In an effort to boost orange juice sales in predominantly continental breakfast eating England, a campaign was devised to extoll the drink's eye-opening, pick-me-up qualities. Hence, the slogan, "Orange juice. It gets your pecker up."
 
Posted by: LAmos* Member Response
9/28/2004 3:38 PM (CST)
I've just put "small balls" into an on-line translator, it comes out as "bolas pequeñas". I don't suppose that helps?!
 
Posted by: Michele Author Response
9/28/2004 3:50 PM (CST)
I think it may be the Pinto mentioned by Mushfique above. However, after discovering that the Chevy Nova blunder is an urban legend I am trying to find some validated data on the Pinto example and am hitting a blank.
This is for a lecture on brand building - so I suppose the specific example does not matter. Keep them rolling in.

Thanks to all of you, especially Zahid for your input so far.

PS, just uncovered that the market leader for crisps (cold packaged potato chips) in South Africa, Simba is Swahili for Lion. Unfortunately it is also Zulu for sh*t. Those in the know ask for Zimba and not Simba chips!
 
Posted by: Frances* Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 5:57 PM (CST)
Hi Michele
I thought I'd add a thought to your Simba example… because I think it opens up an interesting issue. (Sorry that I am about to boldly go beyond the parameters of your question.)

I find it interesting that the market did NOT reject these 's*it' crisps – in fact, it rewarded them by making them the category-leader.

Kuzwayo attributes this strange phenomenon to Simba being first-to-market with this type of product. But I don't think this is a good-enough explanation. We know the South African market is pretty fussy about new kinds of snacks – so if anything this would have increased, not decreased, the risk of the market rejecting Simba.

So sometimes consumers ARE forgiving of mistranslations into their cultures. Perhaps some cultures are more forgiving than others. The Lotto slogan 'Tata ma chance, tata ma million' translates into 'There goes my chance, there goes my millions', (instead of the intended 'take a chance, make a million').

When I've asked South Africans what they think, nobody (except linguists, translators or advertising people) has considered this to be strange. In fact, many people seem to be vaguely offended by the suggestion that they may not have 'got' the intended meaning.

Sometimes a rose by another name really does smell as sweet.
 
Posted by: bennettstenton* Member Response
9/28/2004 6:43 PM (CST)
Hi there,

There are many examples here already, but you might like to check out 'Brand Failures' written by Matt Haig published by Kogan Page - for many more examples and some excellent assistance to ensure that you don't wind up there in the first place.
 
Posted by: tigertek Accepted Answer
9/28/2004 9:32 PM (CST)
G'day,
With the automobiles and cars abbreviations like FIAT's Fix It Again, Tony! we have some better ones in Australia.

FORD also an American sold car.

Fix Or Repair Daily.

and my fave:

Found On Rubbish Dump.

Ciao,

Adam.
 
Posted by: Michal* Accepted Answer
9/29/2004 12:30 AM (CST)
Ok. That might sound harsh:

In the beginning of 90s a brand of juices entered Polish market. They were mainly sold in small (0,33l) packaging on relatively low price. You could have bought them across whole distribution but mainly in small outlets (with chewing gum, bus tickets, newspapers and lotto coupons etc.). Well, that time Polish people were not that familiar with english though I still didn't find an answer why the manufacturer called those juices (black currant)

Dick Black.

:) (they changed the name after around 10 years)

To mushfique - the thumbs up you mentioned didn't mean f**k you (I'm from Poland and I think I know how to signal it;))

To thinkmor - for me, personally, it does not matter how is Poland called regarding its geographical position, but to be correct - it should be called as a part of Central Europe. (Poland got out from the so called "Eastern Block" 15 years ago:)).
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Accepted Answer
9/29/2004 1:30 AM (CST)
hi michal

extremely sorry pal, i just got that thumbs-thing from an article, (in fact i have lost the url of that article). Please accept my apologies for that.

probably the days under the Warsaw Pact and the communist regimes are too vivid in most of the people's mind (despite Lech Walesa and the Solidarity) that people tend to still call Poland part of Eastern Europe. but with the joining of NATO and knocking on the door of EU, i am sure people (at least from now on, me) will call Poland part of Central Europe. thanks a lot for reminiding us of Poland's disassociation from the Eastern Block.



Here are some more of the Famous Brand Name & Marketing blunders adding to what had been posted here so far.

# Coca Cola had to withdraw its 2 liter bottle from Spanish market as it didnt fit the local Refrigerators.

# P&G commercials for Camay, in which men directly compliment women on their appearance (a successfull one in many countries) was a complete failure in Japan as there men and women dont interact in that manner.

#Ford launched Ford Fiera, a low cost truck for developing countries in Mexico, but in Spanish, "Fiera" stands for "terrible, cruel or ugly" and the Ford faced sales problem with that Fiera model.

#Again Ford in Mexico launched popular car "Ford Comet" as "Ford Caliente" and had very limited sales, as in Mexico "Caliente" is a slang for "Streetwalker".

#an american airline (the reference book doesnt give the name of the airline) operating in Brazil advertised for a plush "rendezvous lounge" on its jets only to find that "rendezvous" in Portuguese means "room hired for lovemaking".

# GM's "Body by Fisher" was translated s "corpse by Fisher" in Flemish.

# Colgate's Cue toothpaste had trouble in France as "Cue" is a crude term for "Butt" in french.

# United Airline's in-flight magazine cover for Pacific Rim routes hsowed actor Paul Hogan in the australian outback. The caption stated "Paul Hoga Camps It Up". unfortunately "camps it up" is aussie slang for "flaunts his homosexuality".

# A Chinese company attempted to export "Pansy" brand of men's underwear to America.

# Kellog's "Bran Buds" translates into "burned farmer" in Swedish.

hope these helps. Please no offense intened to anyone from any part of the world.

cheers!!
 
Posted by: Michele Author Response
9/29/2004 1:42 AM (CST)
hi Zahid
You are an amazing font of information on this topic. Thank you for your participation!

Do you have any idea if any of these are 'urban legends' as apposed to real events.

The fact that the Chevy Nova is one most often quoted in marketing text books, but did not really happen amazes me. I think the urban legend does as much damage as if the event had happened, as Chevy are now marked as culturally insensitive marketers who do not bother to research their markets.

Perhaps they should print an article on their website counteracting this allegation - or something. Do not know if that would spread the meme - or stop it from doing any more damage.

Thanks again for all your input, you all.
 
Posted by: thinkmor Member Response
9/29/2004 6:06 AM (CST)
Hi Michele

Firstly, Michal - No offense was intended to you, your country, culture or language and that also includes anyone else in Germany or China or anywhere else that may have been posted ok, apology accepted?

I use to work in advertising for a while and so whilst travelling always found the names of products interesting in different cultures.

Some of the names have become 'urban legends' like with the Nova e.g. but I have found more than 50% of them to be true, as the link I posted for the tofusticks. Most of the brands were quite obscure.

I was going to do a book on this subject but someone beat me to it and then I forgot about it. Afraid, can't remember the name. If I come across it somehow I'll let you know.

I think if brands like Chevy and others were aware of these mistakes and actively engaged with customers from different cultures and their differences they would create greater empathy with their customers and their website would be a good place to start.

Unfortunately, corporates just don't work this way and alot of is about damage limitation but that doesn't mean there is not an opportunity to change. The concepts of risk evaluation and counter strategies are often included in supply chain, operations, marketing etc but very rarely implemented through to the brand itself.

Do you know of an example where this was the case?

Thank you for a good question

Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: Agnieszka Accepted Answer
9/29/2004 3:27 PM (CST)
Well, more examples from Poland (I really can't help laughing each time I see the products):

OSRAM - a lighting brand - means literally "I'll shit (on something)". And it's been markteted here for a while...

Also, Dick Black mentioned by Michal is a true story. I agree that the "thumbs up" thing probably a legend.

Pupa, a cosmetic brand, means "bottom" (as body part) - not a rude word, but still rather not for face care...

But there are clever marketers out there as well - for example, Oil of Olay was changed in Poland to Oil of Olaz (Olay is dangerously close to piss and ordinary cooking oil, while Olaz may be associated with Arabian luxury). Just one letter makes the difference.
 
Posted by: Agnieszka Member Response
9/29/2004 3:43 PM (CST)
Oh, and another Polish case. In early 90's, the Vidal Sasson Wash & Go shampoo was so over- and ill-advertised that the folks (suspicious as they usually are) coined a slogan "I wash, my hair go". It never came back. It was the beginnig of market economy here and a full size campaign which would be just suitable in a mature market turned to a blunder. So it's not only the brand name to be considered.
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
9/29/2004 6:34 PM (CST)
It's the Pinto. Here is a link that might help:

http://www.ropesend.com/ropesend_translations/lost_tl/tl1004.html
 
Posted by: Michal* Member Response
9/30/2004 1:44 AM (CST)
Hey, no offense taken ppl, just wanted to make things straight.
Yeah, Osram (I'll shit..) was grand-prize winner;).
 
Posted by: David Sanchez* Member Response
10/1/2004 3:47 PM (CST)
Toyota Paseo = Toyota Trip (Viaje)
 
Posted by: JBtron Accepted Answer
10/1/2004 10:01 PM (CST)
Michele,

These are both real, not legend:

When P&G first launched their revolutionary hair brand way back in the early Thirties, it was originally called "Dreck," until they discovered - at a Board meeting, no less - that in German, Dreck is sh*t. They relauched as.........

Breck.

Also: ever wonder why the Standard Oil Company went from "Esso" to "Exxon?"

It was called "Esso" in the US and Japan and "Enco" everywhere else in the world. "Enco" was recommended to become the Global brand until they conferred with their Japanese colleagues, who informed them that "enco" translates into "stalled car." After a worldwide trademark search, they decided to make something up , hence "Exxon." (I saw a posting that theorizes that Exxon was a protest against President Nixon - untrue.)

Hope this helps and provides a bit of a chuckle!

Best,

::JBtron
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Member Response
10/2/2004 8:40 AM (CST)
to the best of my knowledge, OSRAM is the lighting brand of German giant Siemens.

anyway, good laugh on learning what OSRAM means in polish :)

cheers!!
 


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