OT [AccessD] International marketing becarefuls

Reminds me of when my husband (born in Argentina) first saw the new Mitsubishi which they named the Pajero. Not a nice word in Argentina - and when we came here to Oz and he saw people proudly displaying their stickers "I'm am member of the Pajero Club" I practically had to pick him up off the footpath.....

:)
Kath
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Arthur Fuller 
  To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' 
  Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 6:01 PM
  Subject: [AccessD] International marketing becarefuls


  This is perhaps a day early, since it's humourous, but it is also on point
  for those of use who attempt to market internationally.

   

  1.  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?"

  2.  Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it
       was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

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

  4.  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."

  5.  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 depicting the contents, since many
       people can't read.

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

  7.  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).

  8.  Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into
       "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.

  9.  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." 

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