1.  Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was
      read as "Suffer from diarrhea".

      2.  Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into German
      only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people
      had use for the "manure stick."

      3. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in
      an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

      4. In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin' good"
      came out as "eat your fingers off."

      5. The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem -- Feeling Free,"
      was translated into the Japanese market as "When smoking Salem, you
      will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty".

      6. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same
      packaging as in the US, with the beautiful Caucasian baby on the
      label.  Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put
      pictures on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read
      English.

      7. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a
      notorious porno magazine.

      8. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish
      market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope"
      (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).

      9. In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name
      into "Schweppes Toilet Water."

      10. Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into
      "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave," in Chinese.

      11. We all know about GM's Chevy Nova meaning "it won't go" in Spanish
      markets, but did you know that Ford had a similar problem in Brazil
      with the Pinto? Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals."
      Ford renamed the automobile Corcel, meaning "horse."

      12. Hunt-Wesson introduced Big John products in French Canada as Gros
      Jos.  Later they found out that in slang it means "big breasts."

      13. Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to make a
      tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused
      man to make a chicken affectionate."

      14. When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were
      supposed to have read, "it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass
      you."  Instead, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to
      impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your
      pocket and make you pregnant."

      15. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-la,"
      meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax,"
      depending on the dialect. Coke then researched  40,000 characters to
      find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le,"  translating into
      "happiness in the mouth".

      16. Three years ago, during a trip to Indiana, my folks decided to
      show off their new "real" Mexican restaurant, named Chi-chi's. Upon
      seeing the name on the marquis, my partner started to laugh.  My folks
      asked him why he was laughing, and he explained that in Mexican
      Spanish, "chi-chi's" literally means "titties."  (My folks - who are
      Baptists - were not amused; but they didn't go back to that
      restaurant, either!)

      17. Probably the most famous of all is John Kennedy's announcement to
      the people of Berlin, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" JFK thought he said, "I
      am a citizen of Berlin!"  What he *really* said was, "I am a jelly
      doughnut!"  ("Berliner" is German  for "jelly doughnut".)