Localisation Faux Pas (Archive)

March 2005

Translating for the latin market

Olympia office products attempted to sell its ROTO photocopiers in Chile, but did not realize until too late that roto can mean "broken" or designates the Chilean lower class.

American Motors tried to market its new car, the Matador, based on the image of courage and strength. However, in Puerto Rico the name means "killer" and was not popular on the hazardous roads in the country.

Coors encouraged its English-speaking customers to "Turn It Loose" - which, in Spanish, means "Suffer from Diarrhea"

Because the Spanish word for beer (cerveza) has a feminine ending, Budweiser became known to Spanish drinkers as "The Queen of Beers"