Funny Translations

13) When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in
Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your
pocket and embarrass you." The company thought that the word
"embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It
won't leak in your pocket and make you
pregnant."

12)
Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux."

11) Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling
iron, into Germany only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure.
Not too many people had use for the "Manure Stick."

10)
Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

9)
Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.

8) When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa,
they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the
label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put
pictures on the labels of what's inside, since many people can't read.

7)
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.

6) Frank Perdue's chicken 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."

5) When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new
leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its "Fly
In Leather" campaign literally, which meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en
cuero) in Spanish.

4) An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts
for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I
saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato" (la papa).

3) The Dairy Association's huge success with the
campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It
was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are
You Lactating?"

2) General Motors had a very famous fiasco in trying
to market the Nova car in Central and South America. "No va" in Spanish
means, "It Doesn't Go".

1) The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as
"Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the Wax Tadpole" or "Female Horse Stuffed
with Wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000
characters to find a phonetic
equivalent "kokoukole", translating into "Happiness in the Mouth."