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Localisation Faux Pas (Archive)
November 2003 |
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From 1963 to 1967, the slogan used to advertise the Pepsi soft drink in
the US was as follows: "Come Alive! You're In The Pepsi Generation".
This advertisement represented a major shift in how this drink was
marketed, as the company sought to expand its market share by
convincing young people that this beverage belonged to them. In the US,
this long-overdue gamble paid off.
The advertisements reached out to both the young and those who
thought of themselves as youthful.
However, when these advertisements were ported to China, Pepsi sales dropped because the Chinese interpreted the slogan as: "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead". In other words, they thought that Pepsi were promising that the substance would resurrect their dead ancestors! (Adapted from: Bill Ervolino, Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave. December 1997. The [Bergen County] Record.) |
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