Growing your business and expanding into new territories is exciting but comes with a whole host of challenges. Arguably, the most important is translation. If you don’t speak the language of your new audience, how on earth will you successfully market your product to them?
You may think translation services are easy to find, making linguistic marketing fails by big brands few and far between, but our research shows that isn’t the case! Some of the companies in this list are big brand household names, from car manufacturers to stalwarts in the global food and beverage industry.
Read on to discover the daft mistakes made by 28 brands who tried to bring their products to a new country without the proper prep, often with hilarious results.
*WARNING* immature sense of humour required.
1. Gerber Baby Food
Gerber is a well-known American baby food manufacturer who had previously never experienced issues with the perception of their brand name. That’s when they decided to make a move into the French market.
Unfortunately, they declined to use localised translation services and didn’t notice that ‘gerber’ resembles a French slang word for ‘to vomit’. Needless to say, the brand failed both in France and French-speaking Quebec.
2. IKEA’s ‘Fartfull’ Workbench
IKEA are somewhat well known for funny-sounding Swedish furniture model names. They don’t tend to translate these for foreign markets, perhaps because their Swedish background is a big part of their brand identity, but this one really takes the biscuit.
One of the selling points of this handy workbench was wheels for easy manoeuvring, a feature IKEA clearly considered when naming it ‘Fartfull’, roughly meaning ‘fast vehicle with wheels’. They probably didn’t consider how it sounds in English, though…
3. Intimidate Dating Service
‘Intimi’ means ‘intimate’ in Hebrew, making it the perfect choice for naming an Israeli dating service, right? Not quite, at least not when you combine the two and come up with ‘intimidate’. Dating can be daunting enough, thanks!
4. Irish Mist Liqueur
The word ‘mist’ translates to ‘dung’ in German, a fact that liqueur brand Irish Mist didn’t consider before branching into the German market. As you might expect, most Germans didn’t fancy quenching their thirst with a sip of poop.
5. Sharwood’s Bundh Oven Sauces
British owned food brand, Sharwood’s was really pleased with its ‘first of its kind’ oven sauce and launched into India with a massive TV campaign.
However, they’d failed to recognise that ‘bundh’, which describes a traditional northern Indian cooking method from a specific region, sounds remarkably similar to the Punjabi word for ‘arse’. Funnily enough, consumers recognised this very quickly, calling up to point out that the company was confidently selling ‘arse sauce’ to Indians.
6. Orange Mobile
Language and politics are very much intertwined, as the Orange mobile company found out the hard way when they launched a campaign in Northern Ireland. They went with the brave slogan, “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange”.
Considering it suggested support for the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organisation, this word choice went a long way to alienate a large portion of Orange’s intended audience.
Luckily Orange has now been absorbed by EE, so should be able to avoid stirring up sectarian conflict in future.
7. Electrolux
Electrolux is a successful Scandinavian vacuum cleaner company that decided to bring its success to the US.
While the slogan they chose wasn’t technically a mistranslation, it was a significant misunderstanding of localised language use. “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux” became just one big joke to US consumers.
8. Powergen Italia
Another company ready to take the English-speaking world by storm was Powergen, an Italian brand known for its batteries.
To make a statement, they decided to set up a new website introducing their brand, and its Italian roots. What better web address than “powergenitalia.com”? Nothing to see here.
9. Parker Pens
Do you know what I really can’t stand? When my pen leaks into my pocket and creates the miracle of life. Hate when that happens…
There is a solution, though! Parker Pens proudly announced to their new Spanish audience that their pen “won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant”. Thank goodness.
In all seriousness, Parker had meant to say, “it won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you”, but a mix up with the Spanish words “avergonzar” and “embarazarse” advertised the pen as a perfect contraceptive solution. Next time hire a Spanish translator rather than relying on your old D-grade GCSE knowledge.
10. Coors Beer
In another cock-up for Spanish speakers, Coors moved into the market with the slogan “Turn it loose”. While this was correctly translated, they weren’t aware it was Spanish slang for “suffer from diarrhoea” until it was too late to clean up. I guess they have that in common with diarrhoea sufferers.
11. Frank Perdue Chicken
The Spanish-speaking world has really taken some garbage from British and American brands in the past.
It’s weird enough that Frank Perdue Chicken’s slogan in English is “it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken”, but the poor Spanish translation is really something else.
“It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate”.
Whatever you say, Frank…
12. Paxam
Paxam is an Iranian soap and cleaning products company. Their detergent powder product is named ‘snow’ in their local market, but when moving into the English-speaking world, they mistranslated this to “barf”, raising few eyebrows in the supermarket aisles.
Ah, the sweet smell of freshly-washed vomit sheets.
13. Mercedes
In a deadly turn for the car manufacturer, Mercedes decided on a full name change for their Chinese launch.
They went with the name ‘Bensi’, obviously without consulting local translators, because why would you?
It turned out ‘Bensi’ translates as “rush to die” in Mandarin. Not reassuring to the average car buyer.
14. Pepsi
After Mercedes is done killing them off, the Chinese have an antidote in the form of Pepsi, who were keen to advertise the restorative power of their refreshing beverages Perhaps a little too keen.
They managed to translate the slogan “Pepsi brings you back to life” into Mandarin as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”.
You really do have to watch what they’re putting in fizzy drinks these days.
15. Vicks
Unlike some previous brands on this list, Vicks didn’t bother to translate or alter their name when advertising in Germany.
Unfortunately, when said aloud “Vicks” sounds identical to the German expletive for “fuck”. Very rude for a cold and flu product.
16. KFC
Yet another brand threatening violence on the Chinese is KFC. They translated their signature slogan “Finger Licking Good” into “eat your fingers”. A request or a command? Who knows? Maybe one daybrands will realise that Chinese marketing translation services do exist.
17. Ford
Another major player in the car industry who are lax on their translation services is Ford.
They took their Pinto model to Brazil without considering the fact that ‘pinto’ is slang for ‘small penis’ in Brazilian Portuguese.
Unsurprisingly, Brazilian men weren’t too keen on advertising that particular piece of personal information through their vehicle choice, and the model flopped.
18. Mitsubishi
Along similar lines, the Mitsubishi Pajero wasn’t so popular in the European market, since it translates to “wanker” in Spanish.
19. American Dairy Association
Asking all the personal questions with their famous “got milk?” campaign, the American Dairy Association decided to take their message global by rather invasively asking Spanish-speakers “Are you lactating?”.
Not sure how it’s any of their business…
20. Mazda
Car companies can barely catch a break, and Mazda won’t be spared the embarassment of their mistakes here.
The Laputa minivan passed most English and US consumers by, but to the Spanish, it’s “the whore” car.
It didn’t help that promotional material described it as “designed to deliver maximum utility in a minimum space while providing a smooth, comfortable ride” and “a lightweight, impact-absorbing body.”
21. Honda
Once again, another warning to car manufacturers to consider the name of their next model carefully.
Honda found out the hard way with that their Fitta model was a Swedish word for female genitals. Again, their slogan didn’t help matters: “The all-new Fitta, small on the outside, big on the inside.”
22. McDonald’s
What could be tastier than a big pimp? Confused? It’s what McDonald’s almost called their French Big Mac. Still tasty though.
23. Hunt-Wesson Foods
Another French faux-pas by a food company was Hunter-Wesson Foods’ baked beans, which they called “Gros Jos” in the French Canadian market. Despite, or perhaps because this is slang for “big breasts”, sales weren’t impacted. This one reads like a classic Google translate fail.
24. Colgate
Colgate didn’t run the decision to name their new French toothpaste flavour ‘Cue’ by enough French-natives before launching.
It turned out this was already the name of a well-known porno mag. Not quite the minty clean and fresh image they were going for.
25. American Airlines
American Airlines were so proud of their brand new leather seats that they shouted about it all over their marketing material.
Unfortunately, their Spanish translation left a little to be desired, as “fly in leather” was translated to “fly naked.” Hopefully no Mexican travellers took them up on the offer and turned up to their flight unclothed.
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26. Kmart’s Mother’s Day campaign
Kmart really thought they’d done something cute when they combined the words “mama” and “namaste” to create the quirky Mother’s Day slogan “mamaste”.
Unfortunately, this word already exists; it’s Spanish for “you performed oral sex”.
“Happy Mother’s Day!” would suffice.
27. Puffs
What do you associate tissues with? Colds? Hayfever? Houses of ill repute?
When Puffs tissues moved into Germany, they didn’t bother to change their name despite it being slang for brothels.
28. Ford 2.0
Ford just can’t get it right. This time, their exploits in the Netherlands almost got them a mass murder investigation.
Their slogan, “Every car has a high-quality body” was translated to “Every car has a high-quality corpse”. They weren’t even selling herses.
29. Mango
In 2013, Spanish brand Mango decided to launch their bangle-style bracelets in the French market, as the product was incredibly popular with Spaniards.
However, they opted for a literal translation when naming the products. The bangles, in Spanish, are called "pulseras de estilo esclava," which was translated into French as "slave-style bracelets."
"Escalva" in Spanish has two meanings: a female slave and a bangle.
30. HSBC
What's more motivating than your bank encouraging you to do, well, nothing?
In 2009, HSBC launched a new campaign with the tagline, "Assume Nothing."
But, when pushed in non-English-speaking countries, the phrase was a bit too complex to translate, leading HSBC to encourage customers to "Do Nothing."
31. Schweppes
Schweppes, a brand known for being a little more high-end, decided to go in the opposite direction when they launched a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water in Italy.
"Schweppes Toilet Water" was the translation for Italian folk. It doesn't sound that appetising anymore, really.
32. Locum
In 1991, Swedish property management company Locum sent out Christmas well-wishes to customers via a local paper ad.
Sounds lovely, right?
Well, they decided to add a little festive spirit to their logo, replacing the "o" with a heart.
We don't have to spell it out for you…
33. Braniff Airlines
A lot of times, brands seem to forget that even if your service translates perfectly fine on text, it may not when spoken out loud.
Braniff Airlines discovered this in 1977 when it publicised the new leather seats it had installed in First Class, with the slogan, "Fly in leather."
This was translated for Spanish-speaking markets as "Vuela en cuero," but when spoken quickly, "en cuero" ("in leather") sounds identical to "en cueros," which means "naked."
So, Braniff Airlines inadvertently advertised their First Class service as "Fly naked."
34. Nokia
Nokia's Lumia smartphone had an unfortunate name in Spanish, as "lumiá" is a slang term for a prostitute.
Whilst it didn't cause major issues, it did lead to some awkwardness in Spanish-speaking markets.
35. Nike
In 2016, Nike released a special edition of their Air Force 1 trainers in China that could be customised with two characters 發 ("fā") and 福 ("fú").
Separately, they mean "to get rich" and "good fortune." Quite positive, really.
However, when put together, 發福 means "fat" or "to gain weight." The opposite of what you want from sports trainers.
36. Chevrolet
When the Chevrolet Nova was introduced to Spanish-speaking countries, General Motors quickly discovered that, in Spanish, "no va" translates to "does not work," not something you want people to think when trying to sell them a car.
37. IKEA 2.0
When IKEA opened in Thailand, the Swedish company named a set of coffee cups "Slätten."
Although, in Thai, this word sounds just like another that means "dead" or "deceased."
38. General Electric & Plessy Co.
In 1988, General Electric and Plessey CO merged their companies, creating GEC Plessey Telecommunications, using the acronym GPT.
However, in France, the merger wasn't very well received, as, in French, GPT is pronounced "Jai pété," which translates to "I farted."
Wonder how they're getting on with ChatGPT over there, as "chat" is the word for a male cat in French. Are you talking about the OpenAI software or your pet that keeps farting?
39. Mead Johnson
In 2001, Mead Johnson, a manufacturer of baby formula, incorrectly translated the mixing instructions for its Spanish consumers.
If followed, it would have resulted in a dangerous ratio of formula to water and, if consumed, could have caused seizures and even fatalities.
The company had to recall 4.6 million units of the product, which cost more than $10 million, plus incredible damages to the company's reputation and further sales.
40. Gerber 2.0
Whilst it's not necessarily a text-based translation mistake, baby food manufacturer Gerber marketed its products in Africa with a cute baby on the label.
However, they were unaware that in certain African countries, products usually have pictures of the ingredients on the label, as many people cannot read.
41. IKEA 3.0
Another Nordic to Thai mistake.
"Redalen" was the name given to a bed named after a Norwegian town. But when translated into Thai, the word sounded incredibly similar to another word that means "getting to third base."
A bit cheeky, IKEA.
42. Panasonic
In 1996, the Japanese company launched a revolutionary touch-screen computer.
They sought a popular mascot to promote the computer's launch and ended up picking Woody the Woodpecker due to the character's global popularity.
However, they clearly didn't think how the computer's name and slogan would translate to folk in the Western world.
The computer was named "Woody" and paired with the slogan "Touch Woody - the Internet Pecker."
43. American Motors
In the early 1970s, American Motors named its midsize car the "Matador," in the hopes it would conjure images of courage and strength.
However, when translated into Spanish, "matador" means "killer." Not something you want to advertise your car as.
44. Pampers
When Procter & Gamble started selling its Pampers diapers in Japan, the packaging featured an image of a stork delivering a baby, something very well-known in the US and other Western countries.
They then discovered that consumers in Japan were confused by the image of a stork on the packaging, as the story is not part of Japanese culture. Instead, giant floating peaches bring babies to awaiting parents in Japan.
45. Green Giant
Everyone in the UK knows the "Ho, ho, ho, Green Giant" jingle.
When you think of the brand, you picture a friendly, jolly man advertising sweetcorn. Nice, right?
Well, this isn't the case everywhere, as Jolly Green Giant was initially translated into Arabic as "intimidating green ogre." Not the best mascot to use to encourage your kids to eat their veggies — unless you want to scare them, that is.
46. Clairol
Clairol introduced a curling iron named "Mist Stick." However, they were unaware that in Germany, "mist" is slang for "manure."
Don't think people want to really use a manure stick on their hair unless they may be a farmer…
47. Nonce Finance
Back in 2021, an American cryptocurrency company sought to break out into the UK market.
Right after the brand's arrival on Twitter, UK users were baffled, as "nonce" may be a harmless word over in the States, but over here, it really is not.
If you can’t see the value of reliable and accurate marketing translation services to your international marketing efforts now, we’re not sure you ever will!
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