Watch Your Language!

From pir, nanaimo, BC, canada

bacardi "pavane" being a bad name in germany is silly. "pavane" is a dance. nobody will think of "pavian" instead.

From Juan Winona MN

My father in law-from is from Germany but lives in Spain. He brought over a Mitsubishi SUV called the "Pajero." in Spanish that word denotes someone with an obsession for "self-gratification."
It took me a year to find the courage to tell him, since he liked the car so much

From Liz, Boston, MA

The "Got Milk?" Campaign didn't do well in Brazil. In Portuguese, it translated to "Are you lactating?"

From Liz, Boston, MA

A Japanese company makes "Calpiss" soda. They wanted to market it in the US. Fortunately, they found out before it went on US shelves that it sounds a lot like "Cow piss". The soda was renamed "Cal-piko."

From Liz, Boston, MA

The Chevy Nova story is an urban legend.

From Liz, Boston, MA

I work for a US company that uses a Canadian call center. The call center's "hold" music is "elevator music," mostly showtunes. One day, as I was on hold with the call center, I heard an "elevator music" version of The Star Spangled Banner! Apparently, they didn't know it was there.

From Steven Piantieri

Hello,
Great article. There are two more glaring examples of companies that didn't do their homework before they released products in foreign lands.

Chevrolet had a very successful car, the Nova, for many years. They began to distribute it in Latin America without researching the meaning. How could a mega-corporation the size of General Motors not have Spanish or Italian-speaking personnel at the top of their marketing success? In many language, nova literally means, 'won't go'. Wonderful. And they wondered why it wouldn't sell….

Alfa Romeo, famed Italian automaker since 1910 (I race an elegant Alfa Romeo from the 1950s and drive two more of these fine but eclectic vehicles, image attached) unveiled a new model for the US and European market, the 164. Evidently, in one or both of the two Chinese languages it is very, very close to sounding like, 'death to you'. They learned of this AFTER the car was for sale in many continents. Sales in Asia were quite weak.

I enjoy your mag and look forward to reading another issue.

Steven Piantieri
Tastings Restaurant, opening in autumn, 2008.

From Ann Sherwin, Raleigh NC

Surely the NOVA blunder was not "missed." It's just such a tiresome, overused example that we groan every time we hear it. The author is to be commended for using fresh illustrations!

From B

How could you miss the attempt to sell the CHEVROLET NOVA in Mexico??? Translation.. No – Va = Does not go.

From Kirk Shanks

I can't believe you did not mention the Chevy Nova. "No va" in Spanish means "no go". So, a car called the NoGo?

From Robert DeCamp

Years ago this car never sold in Spain.. Va in spanish means go. The car doesn't go…Nova

From Tony Higgins

A good write-up – but in the gallery, you missed the most famous example of what poor name selection can do.

For many years, GM marketed the Chevy Nova successfully – but not in Spanish-speaking countries, where Nova quickly was heard as “no va” – it won’t go!

Tony Higgins / Director of IT Governance and Security
Fontainebleau Resorts LLC

From Svetlana Malinina

The whole article was great. I should say that I am a student and my subject at university is marketing. I`ve often though of the importance of words, especially when we are talking about ads and market`s aims. The articale was very intriguing and amusing and at the same time extremly significant and reasonable. It was a real peasure for me to read it because it made me thik of all misunderstandins and the situations, resulting from them…
I`d better stop writting because I think I`ve taken enough of your time.:)

From Jose S. Altamirano, West Sacramento, California

I couldn't agree more with your article. When I started reading your article, I wondered if KIA (Hyundai) Motors had ever used Choice Translating. They sure could have used them. They're marketing an SUV called The KIA Borrego. In Spanish, it translates to the KIA "sheep." It is even spelled perfectly in Spanish.

Honestly, who wants to drive in car called a sheep. Not too many Spanish people in California will be buying it, I can almost guarantee it. If they do, they'll be ridiculed by their family members. Someone in Korea did not do their homework.

If you know Hyundai's e-mail, you may want to forward this. I couldn't find it.

From Wesley

Pepsi Cola used to have an ad campaign that said "Come alive with Pepsi". Translated into Chinese, it came out "Bring your ancestors back from the dead with Pepsi".

From B.V., Chicago, IL

IKEA FARTFULL – Fartfull desk on wheels IKEA sells this workbench as the FARTFULL. Although IKEA's web page says FARTFULL is not for sale on the web, I still enjoy recommending it as the perfect gift suggestion for various people.

Swedish is a Germanic language, and "Fährt" is German for travel, so I am sure "fartfull" is being used here to suggest mobility, given the desk's wheels and design. Swedish has several words for fart, but one of them is "Fjärt", which strikes me as close enough that their marketing department knew what it was doing. If even bad press is good public relations, then this is a case of allowing an ill wind to blow some good. Let your imagination run wild when they say this not-for-sale desk passes a lot of gas!

Taken from the website below.

From B.V., Chicago, IL

Chevrolet Nova. I've read about this blunder in my International Business class. It didn't sell well in Mexico and Brazil because "no va" translates into "it doesn't go." So in other words, Chevrolet made an advertising blunder in these Latin-American countries that means "Chevrolet it doesn't go."

From Fry, NYC, NJ

Ford Kuga is also sold under this name throughout the former Yugoslavia. Kuga means Plague in the local language.

From Sweden

Honda has a smaller car called Fitta in many countries but not in sweden, norway and denmark, because it's a crude word for female genitalia. Here it's called Jazz instead, which isn't a crude word for female genitalia, at least not yet. But why not Honda Fitta when you think of it, could be great marketing. Fitta – a car for all sizes – when size doesn't matter – "my husband really likes our Fitta – Fitta, for the whole family – small on the outside, big in the inside etc…

From J, Chicago IL

The campaign "Hello Moto" did nothing for Motorola in India because in Hindi Moto means 'fatty'.

From Earlene, New Bern, NC

I lived in Japan several years ago. In a upscale department store, I was surprised to see a strange saying on a woman's t-shirt. There was a picture of a grain silo, a barn, and a farmhouse. But the wording printed under that scene read "We like to live in country" HOWEVER- the letter "O" was left out of the final word- I didn't buy the shirt.

From Jim, Baltimore, MD

Manco Duck Tape was being displayed in Japan at a major trade show. Apparently no one at Manco Inc realized their company name is the same pronunciation as an extremely crude word for female genitalia. The following year Duck Tape was on display – no mention of the company name again

From Tim, Rockville MD

Yes, everyone has heard that story. Unfortunately, that one is an urban legend. The Nova sold very successfully in Spanish speaking countries.

A better, and true one, is the British company named GPT that was expanding operations and found that their name in French sounded very close to "I just passed wind."

From Dan Flaherty, Austin Texas

I remember hearing an old story about GM having a problem selling the Chevy Nova in Mexico. 'No va' meaning 'no go'.