You Won't Find This In Business School.

Top 10 US marketing flops

10. Chevrolet Nova didn't do well in Spanish speaking countries... Nova
means 'No Go'...

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

8. A peanut-packed chocolate bar targeted at Japanese teenagers needing
energy while cramming for exams ran headlong into a belief that eating
peanuts and chocolate causes nosebleeds.

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

6. When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa, they used the
same packaging as in the USA - the cute baby on the label. Later, when
investigating lower than expected sales figures, they found out that
it is common practice in Africa to put pictures of the contents on
food package labels.

5. Coors slogan, "Turn it Loose," translated into Spanish as "Suffer From
Diarrhea."

4. Puffs tissues had a bad name in Germany since "Puff" is a colloquial
term for whorehouse.

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

2. When Coca-Cola first came to China, it was given a similar sounding
name... but the characters used for the name meant "Bite the Wax
tadpole."

1. Chicken magnate Frank Perdue wants us to know that "It takes a tough
man to make a tender chicken," but the Spanish translation came out as
"It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."