What’s in a Name? Famous Marketing Translation Blunders
What’s in a Name? Famous Marketing Translation Blunders
If you are considering marketing your product internationally, there are a lot of things you must consider when naming your products or creating your slogans. It may surprise you to learn that some major companies have had some huge product failures because they didn’t do their research. Remember the Chevy Nova? That didn’t do so well in Mexico due to the name meaning: No Go. Once they realized this, they renamed the car the Caribe.
Here are some other famous blunders:
Schweppes Tonic Water translates in Italian to “Schweppes Toilet Water”
Coors’ Slogan “Turn it Loose” translates in Spanish to “Suffer from Diarrhea”
Pepsi’s Slogan “Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation” translates in Chinese to “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave”
KFC’s Slogan “Finger Licking Good” translates in Chinese as “Eat Your Fingers Off”
Clairol’s “Mist Stick” curling iron translates in German to “Manure Stick”
The Dairy Association’s “Got Milk” ad translates in Spanish to “Are You Lactating”
It’s not just Americans who make these blunders. Scandinavian manufacturer of Electrolux created the campaign: Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux.
It has been said that Gerber may have made one of the biggest blunders, however, when they put a picture of a baby on their jars of baby food. In Africa, it is common for them to put a picture on the label of what is actually in the product. This has since been considered a myth.
Additional Resources:
Product Placement:Â Is it Shameless or Just Good Business
Stephen Hawking’s IQ – How Yours Compares to His and Other Famous Persons’ IQ
There is a lot of talk recently about Stephen Hawking since his recent comment about God and the creation of the universe and the release of his upcoming book.  This has led to many searching for information on Hawking. Interestingly his IQ is reported around 160. Hawking claimed, “people who boast about their IQs are losers”. In our book about understanding personalities and intelligence, my daughter, Toni Rothpletz, and I wrote about the importance of IQ and EQ (emotional quotient or measure of emotional intelligence). Many organizations now are putting more of a focus on hiring those with a high EQ. However, it may be fun to see how your IQ compares to some famous people in history. The following chart is from aceviper.net:
Name (First/Last) | Description | Country | IQ (SB) |
Abraham Lincoln | President | USA | 128 |
Adolf Hitler | Nazi leader | Germany | 141 |
Al Gore | Politician | USA | 134 |
Albert Einstein | Physicist | USA | 160 |
Albrecht von Haller | Medical scientist | Switzerland | 190 |
Alexander Pope | Poet & writer | England | 180 |
Sir Andrew J. Wiles | Mathematician | England | 170 |
Andrew Jackson | President | USA | 123 |
Andy Warhol | Pop artist | USA | 86 |
Anthonis van Dyck | Painter | Dutch | 155 |
Antoine Arnauld | Theologian | France | 190 |
Arne Beurling | Mathematician | Sweden | 180 |
Arnold Schwarzenegger | Actor/politician | Austrian | 135 |
Baruch Spinoza | Philosopher | Holland | 175 |
Benjamin Franklin | Writer, scientist & politician | USA | 160 |
Benjamin Netanyahu | Israeli Prime Minister | Israel | 180 |
Bill Gates | CEO, Microsoft | USA | 160 |
Bill (William) Jefferson Clinton | President | USA | 137 |
Blaise Pascal | Mathematician & religious philosopher | France | 195 |
Bobby Fischer | Chess player | USA | 187 |
Buonarroti Michelangelo | Artist, poet & architect | Italy | 180 |
Carl von Linn | Botanist | Sweden | 165 |
Charles Darwin | Naturalist | England | 165 |
Charles Dickens | Writer | England | 180 |
Christopher Michael Langan | Bouncer & scientist & philosopher | USA | 195 |
Sir Clive Sinclair | Inventor | England | 159 |
David Hume | Philosopher & politician | Scotland | 180 |
Dr David Livingstone | Explorer & doctor | Scotland | 170 |
Donald Byrne | Chess Player | Irland | 170 |
Emanuel Swedenborg | thologian/scientist/philosopher | Sweden | 205 |
Sir Francis Galton | Scientist & doctor | British | 200 |
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling | Philosopher | Germany | 190 |
Galileo Galilei | Physicist & astronomer & philosopher | Italy | 185 |
Geena (Virginia) Elizabeth Davis | Actress | USA | 140 |
Georg Friedrich Händel | Composer | Germany | 170 |
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel | Philosopher | Germany | 165 |
George Berkeley | Philosopher | Ireland | 190 |
George H. Choueiri | A.C.E Leader | Lebanon | 195 |
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) | Writer | England | 160 |
George Sand (Amantinr Aurore Lucile Dupin) | Writer | France | 150 |
George Walker Bush | President | USA | 125 |
George Washington | President | USA | 118 |
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz | philospher / scientist / lawyer | Germany | 205 |
Hans Dolph Lundgren | Actor | Sweden | 160 |
Hans Christian Andersen | writer / poet | Denmark | 145 |
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton | US Politician | USA | 140 |
Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht | President of the Reichsbank / Nazi Officer | Germany | 143 |
Honoré de Balzac (Honore Balzac) | Writer / novelist | France | 155 |
Hugo Grotius (Huig De Groot) | Jurist | Holland | 200 |
Hypatia of Alexandria | Philosopher & mathematician | Alexandria | 170 |
Immanuel Kant | Philosopher | Germany | 175 |
Sir Isaac Newton | Scientist | England | 190 |
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy | Composer | Germany | 165 |
James Cook | Explorer | England | 160 |
James Watt | Physicist & technician | Scotland | 165 |
James Howard Woods | Actor | USA | 180 |
Jayne Mansfield | — | USA | 149 |
Jean Marie Auel | Writer | Finland/ America | 140 |
Jodie Foster | Actor | USA | 132 |
Johann Sebastian Bach | Composer | Germany | 165 |
Johann Strauss | Composer | Germany | 170 |
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | — | Germany | 210 |
Johannes Kepler | Mathematician, physicist & astronomer | Germany | 175 |
John Adams | President | USA | 137 |
John F. Kennedy | Ex-President | USA | 117 |
John H. Sununu | Chief of Staff for President Bush | USA | 180 |
John Quincy Adams | President | USA | 153 |
John Stuart Mill | Universal Genius | England | 200 |
JohnLocke | Philosopher | England | 165 |
Jola Sigmond | Teacher | Sweden | 161 |
Jonathan Swift | Writer & theologian | England | 155 |
Joseph Haydn | Composer | Austria | 160 |
Joseph Louis Lagrange | Mathematician & astronomer | Italy/France | 185 |
Judith Polgar | Chess player | Hungary | 170 |
Kim Ung-Yong | — | Korea | 200 |
Kimovitch Garry Kasparov | Chess player | Russia | 190 |
Leonardo da Vinci | Universal Genius | Italy | 220 |
Lord Byron | Poet & writer | England | 180 |
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte | Emperor | France | 145 |
Ludwig van Beethoven | Composer | Germany | 165 |
Ludwig Wittgenstein | Philosopher | Austria | 190 |
Madame de Stael | Novelist & philosopher | France | 180 |
Madonna | Singer | USA | 140 |
Marilyn vos Savant | Writer | USA | 186 |
Martin Luther | Theorist | Germany | 170 |
Miguel de Cervantes | Writer | Spain | 155 |
Nicolaus Copernicus | Astronomer | Poland | 160 |
Nicole Kidman | Actor | USA | 132 |
Paul Allen | Microsoft cofounder | USA | 160 |
Philip Emeagwali | Mathematician | Nigeria | 190 |
Phillipp Melanchthon | Humanist & theologian | Germany | 190 |
PierreSimon de Laplace | Astronomer & mathematician | France | 190 |
Plato | Philosopher | Greece | 170 |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | Writer | USA | 155 |
Raphael | Artist | Italy | 170 |
Rembrandt van Rijn | Artist | Holland | 155 |
Ren Descartes | Mathematician & philosopher | France | 185 |
Richard Nixon | Ex-President | USA | 143 |
Richard Wagner | Composer | Germany | 170 |
Robert Byrne | Chess Player | Irland | 170 |
Rousseau | Writer | France | 150 |
Sarpi | Councilor & theologian & historian | Italy | 195 |
Shakira | Singer | Colombia | 140 |
Sharon Stone | Actress | USA | 154 |
Sofia Kovalevskaya | Mathematician & writer | Sweden/Russia | 170 |
Stephen W. Hawking | Physicist | England | 160 |
Thomas Chatterton | Poet & writer | England | 180 |
Thomas Jefferson | President | USA | 138 |
Thomas Wolsey | Politician | England | 200 |
Truman Cloak | — | — | 165 |
Ulysses S. Grant | President | USA | 110 |
Voltaire | Writer | France | 190 |
William James Sidis | — | USA | 200 |
William Pitt (the Younger) | Politician | England | 190 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Composer | Austria | 165 |