Have you been thinking about trading abroad and translating your marketing material? Be warned, these well known companies have lost millions following the discovery that their product or slogan was lost in translation!
Company |
Slogan / Product |
Chinese translation |
| Pepsi | come alive with the Pepsi generation | Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the grave |
| Coca Cola | coca cola | bite the wax tadpole |
| KFC | finger lickin | eat your fingers off |
Company |
Slogan / Product |
Spanish translation |
| Parker Pen | it won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you | it won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant |
| Frank Perdue | it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken | it takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused |
| Coors | turn it loose | sufferer of diarrhoea |
| Chevrolet | chevi nova | doesn’t go |
| Ford | pinto | tiny male genitals |
Company |
Slogan / Product |
German translation |
| Carol | mist stick | manure stick |
Company |
Slogan / Product |
Italian translation |
| Schweppes | tonic water | Schweppes toilet water |
Examples taken from innocent English.com
Anyone heard of any other good ones?
