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In China Coca Cola was first rendered as ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately
it means "bite the tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending
on the dialect |
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Coors put its 'Turn it loose' beer slogan into Spanish, where it read
'Suffer from diarrhoea'.
Very messy indeed!
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Chevrolet introduced the Nova car into Mexico.
However, the word 'Nova' in Spanish translates into 'Won't go.' Vrooom! |
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The American slogan for Salem cigarettes,
'Salem-Feeling Free', was translated into
Japanese as:
'When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems
to be free
and empty.'
Could they have included some additional mind-bending ingredients? |
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Clairol introduced its 'Mist Stick' hair
curling tongs into German, only to discover that 'mist'
is slang for manure there. Very few women wanted
a 'manure stick!' |
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Scandinavian vacuum cleaner manufacturer Electrolux
used the following in an American campaign:
'Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.'
A colloquial gaffe of monumental proportions! |
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In Chinese, Pepsi's 'Come alive with the Pepsi generation' translated
into
'Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.'
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Frank Perdue's slogan: 'It takes a strong man
to make a tender chicken' was translated into Spanish as 'it
takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate. |
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Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called 'Cue',
which just happened to be the name of a notorious pornographic magazine. ! |
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In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into 'Schweppes
Toilet Water.'
A gin and toilet water please barman! |
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When Parker marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed
to have read 'It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you.' Instead,
they read 'It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.'
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Kentucky Fried Chicken's slogan "finger
lickin good" translated
into Chinese came out as "eat your fingers off" |
