Some foreign companies blithely enter the American market with names that are a bit jarring. However, we Americans have had our share of global marketing gaffes as well.

Foreign Flops

Surprising names like the German industrial giant called Siemans makes us take a second look.  Here are some others that will probably not be so lucky until they consider new names.

A gourmet chocolate and fruit confection is sold in the United States under its German name “Zit.”  Chocolate covered ice cream bars are sold in Germany under the brand name “Prick.”

The name of a popular fermented milk drink sold in Japan is pronounced “Kowpis.”  Another popular Japanese product is a soft drink named “Mucos.”  A line of Japanese trousers is marketed under the brand name of “Trim Pecker.”  Not to be stuck on the Japanese, but they also have a beef jerky called “Homo Sausage.”

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A Chinese patented medicine is identified as a “blood nourishing paste” and is sold under the name of “Ass Glue.”  A Chinese candy goes by the name of “Strange Taste.”

“Pshitt” is a French carbonated beverage and “Focklink” is the name of a Dutch liqueur. 

Sumitomo, a Japanese steel firm, took out full page ads in American trade magazines to promote its special purpose steel pipe, called Sumitomo High Toughness. They used a Japanese agency to develop the ads, which abbreviated the name and ran the abbreviation in bold type over three quarters of the page: SHT.  Beneath this eye catching banner was the message that the product “was made to match it’s name.”

American Flops

Lest we think that we Americans do any better, here are some of the most commonplace American brand names and the advertising slogans that do not travel well either.

When McDonalds’ began opening outlets in France, it translated its “Big Mac” hamburger as “Gros Mec.”  In French slang, it means “Big Pimp.”  Hunt-Wesson had a similar problems while introducing its Big John line into Canada.  It translated as Gros Jos, a slang expression for large breasts.

When Pet milk was marketed in France, its makers were soon informed that “pet” in French means “to break wind.”

Problems plagued the Ford “Fiera” in South America because it meant “ugly old woman” in Spanish slang.  The Chevy Nova was not a big hit with the Spanish speaking, either.  Translated literally, its name means “star” but when spoken it sounds like “no va” which means “it doesn’t go.”

A beer company’s slogan “Turn it loose,” translated into Spanish as “Our beer causes diarrhea.”  Still in Spanish, a cigarette which wanted to advertise that it had less tar, turned out to claim to have “less asphalt.”

Kentucky Fried Chicken’s slogan, “It’s finger lickin’ good!” translated into Chinese as “You’ll be eating your fingers!”  Along the same lines, Purdue Chicken uses the slogan “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”  In Spanish, that translates into “It takes a sexually excited man to make a chicken sensual.”

And for a real laugh, check out this picture of a product calledSuper Macho by Maria Blazz.

Other articles by Bren Parks include:

Whatever Happened to Fizzies and Other Great Stuff?

Slang: the Pop Culture of Language

Would a Rose by any Other Name Smell as Sweet?