However, some outraged critics didn’t believe the company had made an innocent mistake “Stop your lies! We all know that a translation error would be fixed well before products hit the shelves,” one woman ranted on Twitter.Īt Bubbles Translation Services we fully understand that sloppy translations can ruin a business’ reputation. Mango has since accepted full responsibility and apologised for what they have called a ‘translation error’. More than 5,000 outraged people joined in with a social networking petition campaigning against Mango and its insensitive, inappropriate caption, with ‘Boycott Mango’ quickly becoming a trending topic on Twitter. However, in France, where the bracelets were being marketed, the descriptor critically means slave. ‘Esclava,’ is a common Spanish term used to describe a particular style of bracelet. Mango made worldwide headlines thanks to a translation error relating to the term ‘esclava’ in the promotion of a new line of jewellery. If you want your brand to remain competitive in local markets, it’s essential that your marketing team has a native speaking employee to avoid common marketing translation mistakes.Īdditionally, partnering with a reputable language service provider, with linguists who are able to understand local nuances and idioms, can provide you with a through cultural sensitivity strategy to ensure your product or service is well received by your international customers – while remaining competitive in the local target market.Spanish fashion giant Mango has been forced to apologise for advertising a ‘slave style’ jewellery line on its French e-commerce website. This instance shows that even the smallest translation error can dramatically affect the final message. In a desperate effort to change their Chinese name, Coke researched 40,000 Chinese characters to find the phonetic equivalent, “kekoukele”, meaning “happiness in the mouth” in Chinese. When Coca-Cola first translated their name into Chinese, it literally translated to “bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed with wax”, depending on your dialect. Yet, if the company had taken the time to understand the cultural and linguistic nuances of their new market, they would have noticed that “Fitta” was an old, crass term that referred to the female genitals in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish.Ĭonsequently, the car was renamed the “Honda Jazz”. In 2001, Honda introduced their new car, the “Fitta”. Marketing translation mistakes like this will most certainly ensure you receive a negative response from curry lovers. However, following the launch, Sharwoods received several calls from Punjabi speakers telling them that “Bundh” sounded like the Punjabi word for “arse”. Sharwoods were so confident in their latest product, that they even backed it with a £6 million television advertising campaign. The new product was entitled “Bundh”, with the name supposedly “inspired by a traditional northern Indian ‘closed pot’ method of cooking”. In 2003, UK food manufacturer Sharwoods launched their latest curry sauce that was said to be “deliciously rich”. RELATED: Why Brands Are Still Not Getting Localisation Right So, Parker Pen’s translated marketing copy actually read “It won’t leak in your pocket and impregnate you.” Well, that’s quite reassuring. However, the company thought that the Spanish for “embarrass” was “embarzar”, which actually means to impregnate. When Parker Pen first started to market their ballpoint pen to the Mexican market, they wanted to tell their new audience that their pens “won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you”. Parker Pens are not likely to make you pregnant Pepsi made this mistake when they unwittingly translated their “come alive with the Pepsi generation” slogan as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave. Several high-profile Western companies have had difficulties when translating their marketing copy into Chinese. Here are 5 examples of promotional activities that were compromised by a severe error in translation and localisation: Pepsi will bring your ancestors back to life This ensures that advertising copy that may have been a success in one country may be a disaster in another. This is because different regions use different languages, and have different cultural references and social conventions. One part that needs careful consideration is the localisation of marketing, promotional, and brand-related content.
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