{"id":24554,"date":"2022-09-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/bizarre-translation-fails-why-good-writing-is-important\/"},"modified":"2024-07-30T15:39:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T13:39:25","slug":"bizarre-translation-fails-why-good-writing-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/bizarre-translation-fails-why-good-writing-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Bizarre translation fails: why good writing is important"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lost in translation<\/a>? The linguistic misunderstandings that Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray experience in Tokyo are by no means an invention of the film industry. Time and again, linguistic marketing flops and embarrassing advertising mistranslations make headlines. These not only cause amusement or misunderstandings among (potential) customers. They can also cost companies their credibility and a great deal of money. After all, what sounds good to the domestic market can sometimes trigger unexpected associations in the target country. In worst-case scenarios, this may involve things that no company wishes to be connected with.<\/p>\n\n

See for yourself! In this blog post, you\u2019ll read about some particularly memorable translation fails and learn why professional translations<\/a> and localization<\/a> by native speakers are so important.<\/p>\n\n

The most amusing advertising mistranslations<\/h2>\n\n

Whether it\u2019s local firms or global conglomerates: the slogans, marketing texts and product names used in their internationalization strategies are often simply adopted directly or translated verbatim. The following translation fails show just how quickly things can go awry.<\/p>\n\n

Inappropriate product names: Would you rather drive with someone who self-pleasures or with an ugly hag?<\/h3>\n\n

Car manufacturers often show poor judgement when choosing product names to use abroad. For instance, the Mitsubishi \u2018Pajero\u2019 model had a rough ride in Spain. Why? In Spanish, the word \u201cPajero\u201d means \u201csomeone who self-pleasures\u201d \u2013 a crude name that no Spanish speaker would actually use.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Toyota\u2019s \u201cNova\u201d was perceived as being unreliable (\u201cno va\u201d = \u201cdoesn\u2019t drive\u201d) and American carmaker Ford also lost its way in Spain by christening its \u201cFiera\u201d truck an ugly hag. On the other hand, the \u201cPinto\u201d model provided much amusement in Brazil when it turned out that Ford had actually launched a \u2018Penis\u2019 car. It was quickly renamed the \u201cCorcel,\u201d with the rather more prosaic translation \u201chorse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The Asian market, in particular, presents a challenge for many companies due to its \u2013 for us \u2013 exotic languages: Apple also found itself in a penile predicament when it used a literal translation of its iPhone slogan \u201cThis is 7\u201d for the Hong Kong market. It turns out that the number \u20187\u2019 is used there as a slang term for the male member.<\/p>\n\n

Brand names that advertise something different<\/h3>\n\n

After branching out into the English market, Japan\u2019s second-largest tour operator, Kinki Nippon Tourist Company, was inundated with unexpected enquiries about erotic holiday packages. A prompt change of name was the only remedy.<\/p>\n\n

When Coca-Cola was launched on the Chinese market, the company carefully selected Chinese characters to produce a phonetic sound similar to the pronunciation of the American name. Unfortunately, the fact that these characters, and hence the Coca-Cola name in China, actually meant \u201cbite the wax tadpole\u201d was not considered. The company salvaged this faux pas by renaming the brand as \u201cK\u2019o K\u2019ou K\u2019o L\u00ea,\u201d ensuring that the brown fizzy drink is now \u201ctasty and makes people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Welcoming back the deceased: The slogans inciting people to take absurd actions<\/h3>\n\n

Coca-Cola\u2019s competitor Pepsi promised supernatural powers instead of wax tadpoles: rather than \u201cCome alive with the Pepsi Generation,\u201d the soft drink was marketed in China using the slogan \u201cPepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Even the chicken fast-food giant KFC ended up with egg on its face in the Chinese market. The translation of the American slogan \u201cFinger lickin\u2018 good\u201d encouraged Chinese customers to chew on their fingers. We\u2019re still waiting to hear what that tasted like.<\/p>\n\n

A mistranslated slogan is not only amusing but can also be expensive \u2013 something that major British bank HSBC came to appreciate. The English slogan \u201cAssume Nothing\u201d was translated in many countries as the call to action \u201cDo Nothing\u201d \u2013 so, not exactly a statement that inspired customers to use the product. This caused major reputational damage and resulted in a rebranding that cost the bank around ten million pound. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n

However, ill-considered translations are not the only source of confusion. More and more German companies deliberately uses English slogans \u2013 sadly not always with convincing results. For instance, the former slogan for Hamburg-based perfumery Douglas \u201cCome in and find out\u201d was frequently interpreted as \u201cKommen Sie rein und finden Sie wieder raus\u201d (come in and find your way out again). Needless to say, this didn\u2019t have the intended promotional effect.<\/p>\n\n

Those who read correctly are one step ahead<\/h3>\n\n

Languages don\u2019t just have different alphabets and grammar. Sometimes, they are also read in different directions. Detergent manufacturer Persil overlooked this fact when it published the simple yet effective slogan \u201cdirty \u2013 Persil \u2013 clean\u201d in Islamic countries. Since people there read from right to left, Persil was actually touting its ability to make laundry dirtier. Definitely not a convincing sales pitch.<\/p>\n\n

How to avoid translation fails<\/h2>\n\n

The examples show: Even marketing pros are not immune from making mistakes, especially when it comes to intercultural marketing<\/a>. If you want to operate successfully on the international stage, you need to think globally and engage the respective target market with international and localized marketing strategies. Correct and professional-looking translations are the key to your success.<\/p>\n\n

But don\u2019t panic if you\u2019re not up to speed with cultural subtleties: Our native translators speak more than 150 languages<\/a> and their cultural knowledge will ensure that your content is understood exactly as you intended.<\/p>\n\n

Request a translation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marketing flops happen to the best of us. Find out everything you need to know about the biggest translation mishaps and why you should always use professional translators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1181,1199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts-en-gb","category-translation-en-gb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24554"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24685,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24554\/revisions\/24685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}