Foreign Translations

The first episode of  "Joanie Loves Chachi"  was the highest rated American
program in the history of Korean television.   Why?   Probably because
"chachi"  is Korean for  "penis".

When Braniff Airlines translated a slogan touting its upholstery,  "Fly in
Leather,"   it came out in Spanish as  "Fly Naked."

Coors put its slogan,  "Turn It Loose,"  into Spanish,  where it was  read
as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

Chicken magnate Frank Perdue's line,  "It takes a tough man to make a
tender chicken,"  sounds much more interesting in Spanish:  "It takes a
sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."

When Vicks first introduced its cough drops on the German market,  they
were chagrined to learn that the German pronunciation of  "v"  is  "f", 
which in German is the guttural equivalent of  "sexual penetration."

Not to be outdone,  Puffs tissues tried later to introduce its product, 
only to learn that  "Puff"  in German is a colloquial term for a
whorehouse.

The Chevy Nova never sold well in Spanish speaking countries.  "No va"
means  "It does not go"  in Spanish.

When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few years back,  they
translated their slogan,  "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life"  pretty
literally.   The slogan in Chinese really meant,  "Pepsi Brings  Your
Ancestors Back from the Grave."

Then,  when Coca-Cola first shipped to China,  they named the product
something that,  when pronounced,  sounded like  "Coca-Cola."   The only
problem was that the characters used meant  "Bite The Wax Tadpole."   They
later changed to a set of characters that mean  "Happiness In The Mouth."

A hair products company,  Clairol,  introduced the  "Mist Stick,"  a
curling iron,  to Germany,  only to find out that mist is slang for manure.
  Not too many people had use for the manure stick.

When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa,  they used the same
packaging as here in the USA  -----  with the cute baby on the label. 
Later, they found out that in Africa,  companies routinely put pictures  on
the label of what actually is inside the container,  since most people can
not read.

MENSA,  the organization for the extremely intelligent  ( and from time to
time,  the extremely arrogant, ) is the Spanish word for stupid  ( gender
female. )

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

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

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

In Chinese,  the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan  "Finger-Lickin'  Good" came
out as  "Eat your fingers off."

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."

Hunt-Wesson introduced its Big John products in French Canada as Gros Jos,
therefore,  finding out that the phrase,  in slang,  means  "big breasts." 
 In this case,  however,  the name problem did not have a noticeable effect
on sales.

In Italy,  a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into
Schweppes Toilet Water.

In an effort to boost orange juice sales in predominantly continental
breakfast eating England,  a campaign was devised to extol the drink's
eye-opening,  pick-me-up qualities.   Hence,  the slogan,  "Orange juice. 
It gets your pecker up."