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Was Car Names/ Now Other Corperate Naming Problems

To: mgs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Was Car Names/ Now Other Corperate Naming Problems
From: rfeibusch@loop.com (Rick Feibusch)
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 06:32:53 -0800 (PST)
 Dear Listers -

 Here is a look at how shrewd American business people translate their
 slogans  into foreign languages.  The process could use some Process
 Improvement...
  -----------------------------------------------------------------
 When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery,
 "Fly in Leather," it came out in Spanish as "Fly Naked."

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

 Chicken magnate Frank Perdue's line, "It takes a tough man
 to make a tender chicken," sounds much more interesting in
 Spanish: "It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a
 chicken affectionate."

 When Vicks first introduce its cough drops on the German
 market, they were chagrined to learn that the German
 pronunciation of "v" is "f," which in German is the guttural
 equivalent of "sexual penetration."

 Not to be outdone, Puffs tissues tried later to introduce
 its product, only to learn that "Puff" in German is a
 colloquial term for a whorehouse.

 The Chevy Nova never sold well in Spanish speaking
 countries. "No Va" means "It Does Not Go" in Spanish.

 When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few
 years back, they translated their slogan, "Pepsi Brings You
 Back to Life" pretty literally. The slogan in Chinese really
 meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave."

 When Coca-Cola first shipped to China, they named the
 product something that when pronounced sounded like
 "Coca-Cola." The only problem was that the characters used
 meant "Bite The Wax Tadpole." They later changed to a set of
 characters that mean "Happiness In The Mouth."

 When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa, they
 used the same packaging as here in the USA--with the cute
 baby on the label. Later they found out that in Africa
 companies routinely put pictures on the label of what is
 inside since most people can not read.

Can any of our non-American listers verify these for us?
See you on the Funway!  Rick Feibusch - Venice, CA



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