# Examples Of Brand-Name Failures In The US (better explanation in OP) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706 "2020-06-15T15:53:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/1 "2020-06-15T15:53:28Z")
The history of business is filled with examples of brands expanding into foreign markets, with embarrassing results due to mistakes in translation, failure to understand the culture, etc. For example, when Ford introduced the Pinto to Brazil, the company failed to realized that “Pinto” was slang for “little penis.”\* What are some examples of foreign companies trying to bring products to the US market, with similarly embarrassing results? I can only think of one: Australian hair-removal product Nads. Apparently the Australians failed to realize that “nads” is American slang for testicles. What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![Remember\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Remember\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remember_me)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/2 "2020-06-15T16:04:48Z")
The [Mitsubishi Pajero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero) is/was marketed in Spanish speaking countries as “Montero” as “pajero” apparently means w\*\*\*er in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/3 "2020-06-15T16:42:18Z")
Grupo Bimbo is the biggest bakery company in Mexico. They’ve expanded into the U.S., though the brand name “Bimbo” has unfortunate connotations in American English. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/4 "2020-06-15T17:33:29Z")
The Chevy Nova is a famous one. Basically translates as “no go” or “doesn’t go.” Not good for a car! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/5 "2020-06-15T17:35:28Z")
Just to note that the OP is specifically asking for _ **non-U.S. brands** _ which ran into issues with their brand/product names when they introduced them to the U.S. market. Sort of “the Reverse Nova Effect.” ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/6 "2020-06-15T17:37:15Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > The Chevy Nova is a famous one. Basically translates as “no go” or “doesn’t go.” Not good for a car! That’s been subsequently proven to be greatly exaggerated. The Spanish word “nova,” without a space between the first two syllables, means the same thing as it does in English (the astronomical event). Always has. Any Hispanophone would have known that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/7 "2020-06-15T18:30:10Z")
There are two German companies that I know of that use their unusual-sounding names in the US. As far as I know, they just put up with the sniggers and continue on with business as usual: [Sick](https://www.sick.com/us/en/) [Assmann](http://www.assmann-wsw.com/us/en/) ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/8 "2020-06-15T18:33:58Z")
[Ayds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds) ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/9 "2020-06-15T18:44:51Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Assmann](http://www.assmann-wsw.com/us/en/) I just realized I need a blue lion-bear-eagle-chameleon-cheetah [plush toy](http://www.assmann-wsw.com/us/en/the-company/thats-what-we-stand-for/) with “Assmann” on the tummy for my desk. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/10 "2020-06-15T19:12:46Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > [Ayds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds) Ayds was not a foreign brand whose owners failed to recognize its embarrassing name in the U.S. market. It was an American brand that preceded HIV-Aids by decades. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/11 "2020-06-15T19:15:48Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I can only think of one: Australian hair-removal product Nads. It’s happened with natives as well: the founders of Oxnard, California should have envisaged how far immature people like myself would go for a snigger. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/12 "2020-06-15T19:15:59Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > The Chevy Nova is a famous one. Basically translates as “no go” or “doesn’t go.” Not good for a car! > [@HeyHomie](#): > > That’s been subsequently proven to be greatly exaggerated. > > The Spanish word “nova,” without a space between the first two syllables, means the same thing as it does in English (the astronomical event). Always has. Any Hispanophone would have known that. Right. It’s more of a joke than a real instance. > [@Remember\_me](#): > > The [Mitsubishi Pajero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero) is/was marketed in Spanish speaking countries as “Montero” as “pajero” apparently means w\*\*\*er in Spanish. “Spanish-speaking countries” includes the US market. _Hacerse una paja_, “to make straw,” is slang for masturbation (possibly from the motion of stripping grains from a wheat stalk). So _pajero_ equates to “wanker” or “jerk-off.” For the same reason birdwatchers avoid referring to themselves as _pajareros_ (from _pajaro_, bird), since it sounds too much like _pajero_. Instead it’s _observadores de aves._ I saw my first **Pajero** in a French-speaking country in Africa with a Spanish-speaking friend, and we both had a laugh over it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/13 "2020-06-15T19:27:12Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Grupo Bimbo is the biggest bakery company in Mexico. They’ve expanded into the U.S., though the brand name “Bimbo” has unfortunate connotations in American English. They mostly figured that one out pretty quick, and now mostly only market Bimbo stuff to the Hispanic population, and to the normal US population through their Mrs. Baird’s, Oroweat, Sara Lee and Wonder Bread brands (along with some others). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/14 "2020-06-15T20:03:39Z")
I don’t think they ever tried to introduce it in the US, for reasons that will be altogether obvious, but there’s a French soda with the name PSCHITT! > **[Pschitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pschitt)** > > Pschitt! is a French soda created by Perrier in 1954. The name originates in the transcription in French of the noise made by a Perrier bottle when it is opened. It comes in two flavors: lemon and orange. It is now a product of Roxane. > It is one of the oldest French soft drinks. > > This soft drink–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. I first encountered it on a trip to France in high school with a bunch of high schoolers who, learning the name, acted like high schoolers. “Don’t give that Pschitt!” “Yeah, well you’re fulla Pschitt!” “Keep your Pschitt to yourself” “Don;t get that Pschitt on me.” Et cetera et cetera ad nauseum. I assume the French name is supposed to be onomatapoeic, like the sound of opening a carbonated drink. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/15 "2020-06-15T20:10:14Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > [Ayds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds) The company was around a lot longer than the disease. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/16 "2020-06-15T20:26:59Z")
_Wayne’s World_ forever corrupted a good German (Founded in Germany, 1934 and came to America 1974) name in concrete pumping machinery. Schwing! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/17 "2020-06-15T21:06:20Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There are two German companies that I know of that use their unusual-sounding names in the US. As far as I know, they just put up with the sniggers and continue on with business as usual: > [Sick](https://www.sick.com/us/en/) With today’s slang, using “_ **Sick!** _” in advertising could work in their favor 😃 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/18 "2020-06-15T21:10:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > They mostly figured that one out pretty quick, and now mostly only market Bimbo stuff to the Hispanic population, and to the normal US population through their Mrs. Baird’s, Oroweat, Sara Lee and Wonder Bread brands (along with some others). Yeah, Bimbo products have done fine, where I’ve lived. Definitely not a “failure.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/19 "2020-06-15T22:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham;22356484PSCHITT! > **[Pschitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pschitt)** > > Pschitt! is a French soda created by Perrier in 1954. The name originates in the transcription in French of the noise made by a Perrier bottle when it is opened. It comes in two flavors: lemon and orange. It is now a product of Roxane. > It is one of the oldest French soft drinks. > > This soft drink–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. I first encountered it on a trip to France in high school with a bunch of high schoolers who, learning the name, acted like high schoolers.[/QUOTE] Ahhh, Pschitt. The official drink of American teenagers in France. One of the guys on my trip kept trying euphemize the pronunciation. Skit, pih-sheet, piskit - he tried all sorts of pronunciations. The waiter was confused until I finally said “SHIT” and our drinks arrived immediately. Of course, the drink was always served at room temperature, like all soft drinks in Europe, but that’s a different marketing failure. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706/20 "2020-06-15T23:35:29Z")
There was a children’s Japanese Super Nintendo game that was brought over to the US as “Spanky’s Quest”, and you played as a Monkey. Obviously nobody in Japan understood the sexual pun and the game failed to sell, presumably because of the bizarre title that turned most buyers off who were looking for a kids game. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-brand-name-failures-in-the-us-better-explanation-in-op/855706.md?page=2)