Ten Global Translation Errors Made by Big Companies
The global business is a tough business; in fact the only constant in international business that you can count on is change. Change in the environment, change in the culture and change in the language. Accompanying change is the possibility of unexpected events. Fortunately, some surprising events prove to be prosperous to the companies involved. For example, a U.S. manufacturer had an increase in sales for their feminine sanitary napkin products in South America due to crop farmers using them as dust masks. That’s a lucky event. But, not all companies experience this luck when they go global. Many surprises in international business are not good ones, especially outcomes that could have been avoided; outcomes such as marketing blunders from translation errors. Translation errors are the cause of the greatest number of blunders in international business. So, if you’re a company thinking about going global, think about hiring a localization company that offers professional translation services to avoid the embarrassing marketing mishaps of the past. Here are ten well-known translation errors made by big companies.
10) KFC experienced real problems when the phrase “finger lickin’ good” came out in Chinese as “eat your fingers off.”
9) General Motors’ Chevrolet Nova vehicle translated in Spanish in Central and South America as: “No va”, “It Doesn’t Go”;
8) Dairy Association’s huge success with the campaign “Got Milk?” in Mexico translated to: “Are You Lactating?”
7) Braniff Airlines launched a new leather first class seats ad campaign (1977-78) in the Mexican market: “Fly in Leather” meant “Fly Naked” (vuela en cuero);
6) Pepsi’s “Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation” slogan translated in Chinese: “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave”;
5) Colorado brewing company, Coors’ “Turn It Loose” slogan translated in Spanish: “Suffer from Diarrhea”;
4) Parker Pen’s slogan “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you” translated in Mexico: “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant”;
3) Frank Perdue’s famous chicken slogan, “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken” translated in Spanish; “it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate;
2) 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 “kokoukole”, translating into “Happiness in the Mouth.”
All of these marketing mishaps are examples of how even the smallest translation error can greatly affect the intended marketing message and the consumer’s reaction to that message. The hiring of a localization company that offers professional translation services could have saved these big companies a lot of money, time and resources. Fortunately, the examples above were harmless but skipping the proper localization and language research can cause to be very harmful to the public. Rounding off the number one translation error is Mead Johnson Nutritionals, a company that made a very serious mistake.
1) Mead Johnson Nutritionals had to recall two baby food products because the instructions on how the products were to be prepared had been incorrectly translated from English to Spanish. It was reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that if both products were prepared according to the incorrect Spanish translation they could have caused seizures, irregular heartbeat, renal failure and death.
Obviously this is a blunder no company wants to make and one that could have been avoided with the proper translation. If you’re a company thinking about going global take time to research localization companies that offer professional translation services and ensure that the delivery of your marketing message is properly translated for your global market consumers.
About the Author
About the author: Lori S.M. Hollenback is a Freelance Writer for Innuity. For more information about a localization company offering professional translation services, go to www.multiling.com.
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