How Do You Translate That

How Do You Translate That

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Cracking an international market is a goal of most growing corporations.
It shouldn't be that hard, yet even the big multi-nationals run into trouble because of language and cultural differences....
The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la.
In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.
Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off.
The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty.
When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means "it won't go.
After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the...
Ford had a problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped.
The company found out that Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals"....
When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you.
However, the company mistakenly thought the Spanish word "embaraza...
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit.
Instead of the desired "I Saw the Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I Saw the Potato....
Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," got terribly mangled in another Spanish translation.
A photo of Perdue with one of his birds appeared on billboard...

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