So it played in Peoria. Now,
how will it play in Prague?
| • |
Chevrolet's sales of the Nova were dismal
in Mexico where "no va" means "it doesn't
go" |
| • |
Some years ago, PepsiCola® found that
in some foreign markets its theme "Come Alive"
translated as "rise from the dead." |
| • |
When John F. Kennedy spoke to throngs
of Germans addressing them as "Berliners." the
inflection he used was closer to that of a word meaning
"jelly doughnut." |
| • |
Coors put its slogan, "Turn
it loose," into Spanish, where it was mistranslated
to read as "Suffer from diarrhea”. |
| • |
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." |
| • |
In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken
slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat
your fingers off." |
| • |
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 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 English. |
| • |
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed
shirts for the Spanish market that 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 “Tonic
Water” was mistranslated as "Toilet Water." |
| • |
When a pen manufacturer 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 embarass, so the ad read: "It
won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant." |
| • |
And finally, not even Nike is exempt.
Nike has a television commercial for hiking shoes that
was shot in Kenya using Samburu tribesmen. The camera
closes in on one tribesman who speaks in native Maa. As
he speaks, the Nike slogan "Just do it" appears
on the screen. Lee Cronk, an anthropologist at the University
of Cincinnati, says the Kenyan is really saying "I
don't want these. Give me big shoes". Says Nike's
Elizabeth Dolan, "We thought nobody in America would
know what he said. |
