Localization horror stories for Halloween
It’s Halloween night and what better way to celebrate this day than with some localization horror stories?
If you’re a language geek like me and are looking for something that’s gonna keep you up at night just read on!
Vicks cough medicine going rogue: The famous Vicks cough medicine was launched into the German market with no changes to its original name and no research done about it whatsoever. The trouble is that in German the letter “V” is pronounced as “F”, resulting in the brand name taking the meaning of the English “F word”. They later renamed the medicine but this cost the brand a few embarrassing moments and a lot of extra work to fix its German branding.
IKEA and its stinky workbench: Nearly two decades ago IKEA launched a new workbench named “FARTFULL.” The root word “Fährt” in Swedish means “travelling in a vehicle with wheels”, but in English it means… well, “fart”. I don’t need to tell you why this was the wrong product name choice for the English-speaking market. The workbench was taken off the market causing obvious laughs, confusion and extra costs.
Mercedes Benz macabre tagline: When localizing for the Chinese market, cultural faux pas are just around the corner. This is due to the fact that Chinese characters may sound very similar to each other, leading to a potential localization mishap. When Mercedes Benz launched into the Chinese market, the first translation of their name was 奔死, which literally means “to rush to die” or “run towards death”. Once the mistake was called out the brand changed its name, but again this involved extra work and resources to rectify the error.
Parker pens embarrassing time: When Parker Pen launched its ballpoint pens in 1994, they opted for the tagline “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.” However, when it came to localizing it into Spanish for the Mexican market, they thought that the word “embarazar” (to make somebody pregnant) meant to embarrass… and they came up with this gem: “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.” Yep, embarazoso, that’s for sure!
These are just a handful of examples of localization horror stories within brand and marketing campaigns. If you’re looking to launch into new territories, don’t wing it, do your research and work with professionals of the target market.
Happy Halloween!