HUMOUR: interesting tidbits from the marketing world

    Some of you may have seen these before...
but some of you probably have not seen all of these.
    I think this is interesting in regards to translation (and
cultural sensibilities/sensitivities...)
    OBCONLANG: Any similar humourous ConLang items like these?
Any unfortunate Coca-Cola ad campaigns in your conculture, hehe?

TOP TEN MARKETING GOOFS

10. Chevrolet Nova didn't do well in Spanish speaking
countries ... Nova means 'No Go' ...

9. Bacardi concocted a fruity drink with the name 'Pavian'
to suggest French chic ... but 'Pavian' means 'baboon' in
German.

8. A peanut-packed chocolate bar targeted at Japanese
teenagers needing while cramming for exams ran headlong into
a belief that eating peanuts and chocolate causes
nosebleeds.

7. Parker Pen's translated the slogan for its ink, "Avoid
Embarrassment - Use Quink" into Spanish as "Evite Embarazos -
Use Quink" ... which also means "Avoid Pregnancy - Use
Quink."

6. 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.

5. Coors slogan, "Turn it Loose," translated into Spanish as
"Suffer From Diarrhea."

4. Puffs tissues had a bad name in Germany since "Puff" is a
colloquial term for whorehouse.

3. Jolly Green Giant translated into Arabic means
"Intimidating Green Ogre."

2. 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."

1. 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."