{"id":10657,"date":"2015-06-16T23:43:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T03:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kinexmedia.ca\/?p=10657"},"modified":"2024-11-05T07:03:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T12:03:35","slug":"who-says-big-brands-cannot-make-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kinexmedia.com\/blog\/who-says-big-brands-cannot-make-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Says Big Brands Cannot Make Mistakes?"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the world of branding, mistakes can prove to be costly, with the potential to alienate customers and damage a company’s reputation. While we often say “to err is human,” it’s not just individuals who can make mistakes. In fact, some of the biggest blunders in branding have been committed by companies themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n Ford – <\/b>When promoting a car in Belgium, Ford used the tagline “Every car has a high-quality body”, which was mistranslated to “Every car has a high-quality cadaver”. In Brazil, the name of their car, Pinto, was translated to mean <\/span>tiny male genitals<\/span>, which caused a problem.<\/span><\/p>\n Coca- Cola – <\/b>When Coca-Cola first started selling their product in China, the name was sometimes translated to mean “Bite The Wax Tadpole.” This was not an accurate translation of the intended meaning of the brand name, and it caused confusion among Chinese consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n BMW – <\/b>BMW made an ad in the UAE that portrayed the national anthem in a bad way. This caused a lot of anger and boycott threats from Emiratis. BMW had to apologize and remove the ad.<\/span><\/p>\n Colgate – <\/b>Colgate, a toothpaste brand, made a mistake when launching its product in France. They named their toothpaste “Cue” without realizing that it was also the name of a popular French pornographic magazine. This unfortunate mistake could have caused confusion among consumers and potentially damaged the reputation of the brand in France.<\/span><\/p>\n KFC – <\/b>When KFC opened its first store in Beijing in the late 1980s, it accidentally translated its famous slogan “Finger-Lickin’ Good” to “Eat Your Fingers Off”. Luckily, it didn’t cause any major problems.<\/span><\/p>\n Coors – <\/b>When translating its “Turn it Loose” campaign for the Spanish market, Coors forgot that slang doesn’t always carry over as intended. The tagline ended up meaning “Suffer from diarrhoea”.<\/span><\/p>\n Parker Pen –<\/b> When Parker Pen entered the Mexican market, they mistakenly translated their slogan “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you” to “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.” This error occurred due to the confusion between the Spanish words “embarazar” (to impregnate) and “avergonzar” (to embarrass).<\/span><\/p>\n American Motors – <\/b>American Motors learned the hard way when launching a mid-sized vehicle called the Matador in Puerto Rico. The word matador roughly translates to “killer” in the local language, which is not a good name for a vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n Vicks – <\/b>Vicks introduced their cough drops in Germany without knowing that the German language pronounces “v” as “f.” As a result, “Vicks” sounded like a slang word for sexual intercourse in German.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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