Question

A popular fried chicken franchise opened their operations in China. Their Beijing outlet translated the tagline, Finger-lickin' good" to "Eat your fingers off." Using online research, briefly summarize five other examples of poor cultural language and cultural awareness in advertising.

Answer 1

Sometimes marketers try to convince consumers overseas that their product goes beyond traditional cultural barriers by simply translating the original taglines or ignoring cultural barriers. This is where they go wrong. Here are some examples:

A company that made baby foods entered the market in Africa where they used their original packaging of containers with baby pictures on them. In Africa, most companies follow the tradition of putting picture of contents on the packaging. So, putting the picture of a baby on the packaging proved to be a bad brand strategy.

A famous cereal brand had to rename their product name in Sweden after it was translated into the local language as “burned farmer.”

A well-known bank with an ad campaign that read, "Assume Nothing," had to reconsider their campaign when they launched their operations overseas. They had to change their tagline because the tagline translated to "Do Nothing" in many countries.

An automobile company tried to sell cars in Mexico using a tagline that roughly translated to “the car doesn’t move”.

A beverage company used characters in Chinese that sounded like the brand name but read as “Bite the wax tadpole.” They later used a different tagline, this time being more careful.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

1. American Motors

A translatable product name is an important element in global branding and can derail a marketing campaign before it even starts. American Motors made this mistake in the early 1970s when naming its midsize car, the Matador. Although the name was intended to conjure images of courage and strength, it may have been a little too aggressive for Puerto Rican consumers – in Spanish, "matador" translates to "killer." Needless to say, the name didn't instill a great deal of confidence in drivers.

2. BMW

The German car giant BMW made the marketing mistake of improperly using the UAE national anthem in a car commercial. The ad displayed the Al Ain Football Club singing the anthem and then breaking into a run toward several BMW cars when they heard the sound of the engine. Although the brand was trying to arouse intense emotion, it evoked rage instead of passion. Emiratis found it incredibly offensive that the car company suggested their cars were more important than the anthem. The company explained its intent was never to offend, and it soon replaced the ad with a less offensive version.

3. Braniff Airlines

Braniff Airlines got in trouble in 1987 when it promoted its new leather seats south of the border with the same campaign it used in the United States: "Fly in leather." While the Spanish translation, "Vuela en cuero," was appropriate throughout much of Latin America, it had different connotations in Mexico, where the expression also means "fly naked." The promotion may have appealed to some flyers, but it was far from the message the airline intended to send.

4. Coors

American beer maker Coors discovered that slang doesn't always translate well. When launching its "Turn it loose" campaign to Spain, it appears executives forgot to ensure the translation would resonate with consumers. When translated into Spanish, the tagline used an expression that's commonly interpreted as "suffer from diarrhea." While the campaign made its mark on Spanish shoppers, it was for all the wrong reasons.

5. Ford

Auto giant Ford found that in Belgium, enticing customers with a dead body in every car isn't the best way to make a sale. Hoping to highlight the cars' excellent manufacturing, Ford launched an ad campaign in the European country that execs thought said, "Every car has a high-quality body." However, when translated, the slogan read, "Every car has a high-quality corpse" – far from the image they were hoping to invoke.

6. Pampers

Sometimes, companies run into problems overseas not just for what they say but how they say it. When Procter & Gamble started selling its Pampers diapers in Japan, the packaging featured an image of a stork delivering a baby. While the imagery may have worked in the U.S., it never caught on with Japanese parents. After some research, the company learned that customers were concerned and confused by the image of a stork on the packaging. The tale of a stork delivering a baby to parents isn't part of Japanese folklore. There, stories tell of giant floating peaches bringing babies to awaiting parents.

Step-by-step explanation: