in China, a Coca-Cola ad used Chinese symbols to sound out "Coca-Cola" phonectically. the soda company withdrew the ad after learning the symbols "Co" "Ca" "Co" "La" meant "Bite the wax tadpole"
according to a book called The Want Makers, "In Taiwan, Pepsi's 'Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation' was reportedly translated on billboards as 'Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead'"
in Brazil, an American airline advertised that its planes had "rendezvous" lounges, not realizing that in Portuguese "rendezvous" means a place to have sex.
in French Canada, Hunt-Wesson attempted to use its "Big John" brand name by translating it into French as "Gros Jos", a colloquial French phrase that denotes a woman with huge breasts.
when General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Nova in Latin America, it was obvious they didn't know their Spanish. ads all across Latin America heralded the arrival of the new, reliable Nova, which in Spanish means "doesn't go."
Post written by
Tham Sue Fern
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Reference: Edu Smith (November-December 2005, p.42)
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