Chevrolet Nova didnt do well in Spanish speaking countries … Nova means No Go …
Bacardi concocted a fruity drink with the name Pavian to suggest French chic … but Pavian means baboon in German.
A peanut-packed chocolate bar targeted at Japanese teenagers needing energy while cramming for exams ran headlong into a belief that eating peanuts and chocolate causes nosebleeds.
Parker Pens translated the slogan for its ink, Avoid Embarassment – Use Quink into Spanish as Evite Embarazos – Use Quink … which also means Avoid Pregnancy – Use Quink.
When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the USA – the cute baby on the label. Later, when investigating lower than expected sales figures, they found out that it is common practice in Africa to put pictures of the contents on food package labels.
Coors slogan, Turn it Loose, translated into Spanish as Suffer From Diarrhea.
Puffs tissues had a bad name in Germany since Puff is a colloquial term for whorehouse.
Jolly Green Giant translated into Arabic means Intimidating Green Ogre.
When Coca-Cola first came to China, it was given a similar sounding name … but the characters used for the name meant Bite the Wax tadpole.
Chicken magnate Frank Perdue wants us to know that It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken, but the Spanish translation came out as It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate.