Brand blunder

Brand blunder refers to the goof ups associated with the branding of a product, especially a new product in a new market. There could be many reasons for such slips. For example, the lack of understanding of the language, culture, consumer attitude etc.

There are numerous examples of brand blunders in the marketing history; there are also numerous urban legends surrounding brand blunders, where there is little evidence of an actual blunder.

True cases

• Lancia Dedra: this car sold poorly outside Italy, particularly in English-speaking markets, where research showed that people associated it with danger (apparently affected by the name's similarity to the word "dead")
• Honda: In 2001, Honda intended to release an automobile known as the Fit in Asian markets as the Honda Fitta on the European market. However, in Swedish and Norwegian, fitta is a crude reference to female genitalia, and the vehicle was rebranded Honda Jazz.
• McDonald's: In January 2005, McDonald's published banners proclaiming Double cheeseburger? I'd Hit It. In this obvious blunder, the copywriters mistook the strictly sexual slang expression for a term of general approval.
• Kentucky Fried Chicken: An advertising campaign in China attempting to translate the slogan Finger lickin' good! into Chinese failed miserably, proclaiming Eat your fingers off.
• Drake University: This university based in Des Moines, Iowa launched an undergraduate recruitment platform called the "Drake Advantage" in July 2010. The program utilized a recurring "plus" sign to pair ideas, including "Your passion + our experience," and featured a "D+" graphic to indicate the "Drake Advantage." University officials intended the D+ graphic to be a bold, ironic gesture that called to mind a low academic grade (See: United States grading system) but simultaneously reflected the advantages Drake had to offer. However, the graphic was met with resistance from some faculty, alumni and other members of the community and drew national media attention in September. Within a few days, university officials withdrew the D+ graphic from its undergraduate website, with a message from President David Maxwell acknowledging the university had heard and responded to community concerns. Maxwell and other university officials have cited studies showing the program has been effective as a recruitment tool.
• Mitsubishi Pajero: The company noticed too late that pajero means wanker in Spanish and renamed the car later to Montero.

Urban legends

Urban legends about brand blunders are popular, because they use familiar urban legend motifs such as the incompetent corporation or the ignorant foreigner. Often the reality is far less dramatic, and the stories, which are even retold in marketing textbooks, are rarely backed up by researched data about sales.

• Electrolux: Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux sold products successfully in the United Kingdom using the slogan "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". The slang disparagement "sucks" is an example of Americanism, so many Americans think this is an example of such a blunder. The slogan persists among minicomputer geeks as "Nothing sucks like a VAX", punning on the other UK vacuum brand Vax.
• Pepsi: Pepsi allegedly introduced their slogan into the Chinese market "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into Chinese it read "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave".
• Coca-Cola: The name Coca-Cola rendered phonetically in Chinese can sound like the words for "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax". Before marketing in China, the company found a close phonetic equivalent, kekou kele (pinyin romanization), which roughly means "let your mouth rejoice". It was never marketed by the company using the other phrases, though individual merchants may have made such signs. In actuality, "bite the wax tadpole" in Mandarin Chinese is "Kēdǒu kěn là."
• An urban legend holds that the Chevrolet Nova automobile sold poorly in Latin America, as "no va" means "won't go" in Spanish. In truth, the car sold well. The same has been said of the Vauxhall Nova, which had to be sold as an Opel Corsa in Spain. In fact this too is a myth, with the Spanish market offering being known as a Corsa from the outset.

External links

• Marketing 101 and Mistranslations - urban legends about marketing blunders (real and false) from Snopes