I promise it will make you laugh!

These are just a few of the most famous marketing blunders. It’s interesting to see that even the worlds largest companies don’t always get it right!

1. “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux” was used by the Scandinavian vacuum manufacture to promote their product in the U.S.A. Perhaps an understanding of American slang may have saved this one?

2. Coors marketing campaign used the slogan “Turn it Loose”, when translated into Spanish it unfortunately was read as “Suffer from Diarrhoea” A valuable lesson in translating slogans before they hit the market!

3. Pepsi had a great marketing campaign based around the slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation”. Sounds fun doesn’t it? That is unless you are in China where the translation read as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.” Not so fun….

4. Gerber baby food launched their product into the African market using the same packaging as the U.S.A. In theory there was nothing wrong with the cute Caucasian baby used on the packaging until Gerber figured out that companies usually put images of what is inside the jar on the packaging, as many people can’t read. Was it any wonder their “bottled baby” was not a huge hit?

You also will not find Gerber on the shelves of French supermarkets as the name Gerber translates to vomiting in French. Bon appétit!

5. And finally one from personal experience, whilst standing in a well known fast food chain overseas I noticed a sign advertising Chicken Nuggets that read “now made with 100% real chicken.” Well what the heck were they made from before?

Don’t be scared now! For every marketing campaign gone badly there are thousands that succeed. Have a chat to your Business Coach to get some great ideas on ways to market your business. Don’t have a business coach? Then get now is the time to get one!