Ad translation fails that exhibit the importance of experts 

Mistakes happen. But when it comes to advertising in other countries, mistakes can be costly. That’s why it is extremely important to hire a reputable language services provider for culturally-accurate translations.   

This piece will take a look at some funny, yet tragic, advertising translation fails that happened to higher-profile brands.  

Ford’s “Every car has a high-quality corpse” slogan  

After making the decision to expand to Belgium, Ford Motor Company began an ad campaign in Dutch.

What was supposed to be, “Every car has a high-quality body,” actually translated to “Every car has a high-quality corpse.”  

KFC’s “Eat your fingers off” slogan  

Kentucky Fried Chicken created an advertisement in China that was supposed to promote their “Finger lickin’ good” slogan. However, due to a mistranslation with the Mandarin, the slogan read as “Eat your fingers off” — not quite the appetizing message.   

Fortunately for KFC, the branding in China was small enough that the company was able to recover from the mistake.   

Pepsi’s “bring your ancestors back to life”  

Running an ad campaign in China, Pepsi inadvertently mistranslated its “Come alive with Pepsi” to say “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the grave.”

Definitely a bold commitment.   

Dairy association’s “Are you lactating?” ad  

Most English speakers know the American Dairy Association’s catchy slogan, “Got Milk?” But when the organization decided to do a campaign in Mexico, that wasn’t the phrase that went out.

The literal translation of “got milk” in Spanish is “are you lactating?” Thankfully, the message was caught very early in the process and adjusted.   

Coors “You will suffer from diarrhea”  

In the early 1980s, Coors started an ad campaign with the slogan, “Turn it loose!” This proved difficult to translate into Spanish.

The phrase translated is actually the slang term for “get diarrhea” in Spanish – not an ideal combination. In full, the tagline translated into “You will suffer from diarrhea!” Oops.    

Teneo Linguistic Company’s marketing and transcreation services ensure messaging is accurate and culturally appropriate. Marketing translation is almost always more transcreation than direct translation. A translator will likely need to localize phrases and words within. This will make sure a company delivers the right meaning to the intended audience.   

No matter how big or small a marketing translation project is, hiring an expert language services provider is vital to ensure top-notch translations. Get a quote today by visiting www.tlctranslation.com.