Marketing HaHa's
Cracking the international market is a goal of most growing companies. It
shouldn't be that hard, yet even the big multi-nationals run into trouble
because of language and cultural differences. Read on to learn more...
The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately,
the Coke company didn't discover until after it printed thousands of
signs that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole." Coke then researched
40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, "Ko-kou-ko-le," which
can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
In Taiwan, the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated
to "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead."
Also
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," got
translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel
so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."
When
General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently
unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." After the
company figured out why its Nova wasn't selling, it renamed the car in
its Spanish markets to the Caribe.
In Italy, a campaign for
Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet Water.
Need a laugh? Visit www.fullofjokes.com. |
