International Marketing Blunders

To commemorate its initial flights from Hong Kong, United Airlines handed out white carnations to the passengers.

Oops…For many Asians white flowers represent bad luck and even death.

A company advertised eyeglasses in Thailand by featuring a variety of cute animals wearing glasses. �

The advertisement was a poor choice since animals are considered to be a form of low life and no self respecting

Oops..The reason for the company’s failure in Thailand was they misjudged the social customs of Thailand.

In Africa, with a high level of illiteracy, most companies put pictures of what's inside on the label. They assumed that Gerber was selling babies as food, instead of food for babies (Creative Translation).

Oops…Gerber Baby Food did not sell well.

Schwepps, expanding into the Italian market, translated “Tonic Water” into –

Oops…“Water from the toilet”

Pepsi’s attempt to translate their slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” to Chinese

Oops…It worked out to be “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead”

"The future's bright … the future's Orange." That campaign is an advertising legend. However, in the Northern Ireland the term Orange suggests the Orange Order.

The implied message that the future is bright, the future is Protestant, loyalist... didn't sit well with the Catholic Irish population.

Chevrolet, disappointed in sales to a key Hispanic demographic investigated why.

Oops…Nova in Spanish is “no-va“ orIt Won’t Go

Chevrolet

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."