Jeff,
These type of off topic forays are quite welcome.  Thanks for the laugh!
Jeff Kubler
Kubler Consulting, Inc

>From: "VANCE,JEFF (HP-Cupertino,ex1)" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "VANCE,JEFF (HP-Cupertino,ex1)" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: OT: Ad slogans gone wrong
>Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 22:44:56 -0800
>
>Hi all,
>
>Warning -- off topic.
>
>These must be true since I heard them on Paul Harvey News:
>
> > These are the nominees for the Chevy Nova Award.
> > This is  given out in honor of the GM's fiasco in trying
> > to market this car in Central and South America.  "No va"
> > means, of course,  in Spanish, "it doesn't go".
> >
> > 1.  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.  Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where
> > it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."
> >
> > 3.  Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following
> > in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
> >
> > 4.  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."
> >
> > 5.  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.
> >
> > 6.  Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the
> > name of a notorious porno magazine.
> >
> > 7.  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).
> >
> > 8.  Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated
> > into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in
> > Chinese.
> >
> > 9.  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 "kokou kole",
> > translating into "happiness in the mouth."
> >
> > 10.  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."
> >
> > 11.  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.  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!

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com