Post your favorite marketing mistakes. Target's Fathers Day card with Baby Daddy on the front of the card was quickly pulled from the shelves after a customer complained. Target officials apologized saying the card "missed the mark". Here is the link to the story:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/t...reetings-apologizes/

Wasn’t there a campaign of “Drink Schlitz or I’ll kill ya!” with one of those movie tough guys not long before Schlitz disappeared from coolers all over the country?

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Wasn’t there a campaign of “Drink Schlitz or I’ll kill ya!” with one of those movie tough guys not long before Schlitz disappeared from coolers all over the country?

It was James Coburn. He didn't actually say he'd kill anybody.



I wouldn't really call those commercials mistakes. Schlitz was already declining in popularity at that time (late 1970s).

"New Coke" was pretty disastrous for Coca-Cola, IIRC. And I think "IHOb" is going to backfire.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

HK ad with the bullets in the magazine backwards.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/...-bullets-real-story/


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There was an Apple newspaper ad back in the 80's that featured the IBM tower in Atlanta.

There is an infinite supply of things that will offend.

The drinking your urine gun ad.

quote:

Originally posted by D_Steve:
The drinking your urine gun ad.

Agreed, that one was really strange.

IHOB

I like the local advertising, especially for tag sales.

"Everything must go, huge mold problem"

"Make our crap, your crap"

This CBS ad is likely to cause cannibalism of sun burnt people.

Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjiyuD3fMGM

The Chevy Nova ad in Latin America.
https://www.thoughtco.com/chev...t-wouldnt-go-3078090

Apparently it didn't cause trouble. But just the idea seems bad, to sell them south of the border.
There are some other ones at that link.

quote:

Originally posted by D_Steve:
The drinking your urine gun ad.

A Hall of Fame example.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
The Chevy Nova ad in Latin America.
https://www.thoughtco.com/chev...t-wouldnt-go-3078090

Apparently it didn't cause trouble. But just the idea seems bad, to sell them south of the border.
There are some other ones at that link.

It wasn't GM's only translation faux paus. The GM division that made their frames for body on frame cars and trucks was Fisher Body. There used to be a decal inside the door jamb that said "Body by Fisher." Some marketing genius apparently grabbed the first translation for body, and in Belgium the decal read "corpse by Fisher"

New Coke is the biggest mistake ever imo.

Here’s a bunch...

https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-j...ons-of-all-time.html

1. Braniff International translated a slogan touting its finely upholstered seats "Fly in Leather" into Spanish as "Fly Naked."

2. Clairol launched a curling iron called "Mist Stick" in Germany even though "mist" is German slang for manure.

3. Coca-Cola's brand name, when first marketed in China, was sometimes translated as "Bite The Wax Tadpole."

4. Colgate launched toothpaste in France named "Cue" without realizing that it's also the name of a French pornographic magazine.

5. Coors translated its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it is a colloquial term for having diarrhea.

6. Electrolux at one time marketed its vacuum cleaners in the U.S. with the tag line: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

7. Ford blundered when marketing the Pinto in Brazil because the term in Brazilian Portuguese means "tiny male genitals."

8. Frank Perdue's tag line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," got translated into Spanish as "It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."

9. Gerber marketed baby food in Africa with a cute baby on the label without knowing that, in Ethiopia, for example, products usually have pictures on the label of what's inside since many consumers can't read.

10. Ikea products were marketed in Thailand with Swedish names that in the Thai language mean "sex" and "getting to third base."

11. KFC made Chinese consumers a bit apprehensive when "finger licking good" was translated as "eat your fingers off."

12. Mercedes-Benz entered the Chinese market under the brand name "Bensi," which means "rush to die."

13. Nike had to recall thousands of products when a decoration intended to resemble fire on the back of the shoes resembled the Arabic word for Allah.

14. Panasonic launched a Web-ready PC with a Woody Woodpecker theme using the slogan "Touch Woody: The Internet Pecker."

15. Parker Pen, when expanding into Mexico, mistranslated "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you" into "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

16. Paxam, an Iranian consumer goods company, markets laundry soap using the Farsi word for "snow," resulting in packages labeled "Barf Soap."

17. Pepsi's slogan "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life" was debuted in China as "Pepsi Brings You Back from the Grave."

18. Puffs marketed its tissues under that brand name in Germany even though "puff" is German slang for a brothel.

19. The American Dairy Association replicated its "Got Milk?" campaign in Spanish-speaking countries where it was translated into "Are You Lactating?"

20. Vicks introduced its cough drops into the German market without realizing that the German pronunciation of "v" is "f" making "Vicks" slang for sexual intercourse.

BTW, you may have noticed that the most famous translation blunder--Chevy "Nova" translated into Spanish as "Won't Go"--isn't on the list. It's an urban myth.

International House of Burgers