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The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la meaning, "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. Coke later found the right Chinese characters that are phonetically close to the brand, "ko-kou-ko-le" which can be translated as, happiness in the mouth".

In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead".

In Chinese, the KFC slogan "finger licking good" came out as "eat your fingers off".

Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto was Brazilian slang for "Tiny Male Genitals." Ford pried all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel, which means horse.

Frank Perdue's slogan "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" got translated in Spanish as "It takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused".

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

When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "No Va" means "It Doesn't Go." After the company figured out why it was not selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When Smoking Salem, You Feel So Refreshed That Your Mind Seems To Be Empty And Free."

When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say, "It Won't Leak In Your Pocket And Embarrass You." However, the company mistakenly thought the Spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the ads said that "It Won't Leak In Your Pocket And Make You Pregnant."

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

Hunt-Wesson introduced its Big John products in French Canada as Gros Jos before finding out that the phrase, in slang, means "Big Breasts." In this case, however, the name problem did not have a noticeable effect on sales.

Japan's second-largest tourist agency was mystified when it entered English- speaking markets and began receiving requests for unusual sex tours. Upon finding out why, the owners of Kinki Nippon Tourist Company changed its name.