# Unfortunate/worst branding ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383 "2008-11-18T23:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/121 "2008-11-24T20:38:57Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Not a branding, but a slogan: for some years U-Haul was using “Adventures in Moving.” I always thought that was a bad choice. One of their competitors almost made a similar mistake, but at the last minute decided not to go with “Ryder’s on The Storm”. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/122 "2008-11-24T22:29:18Z")
Doesn’t “Alliance” mean the same thing as “Party”? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/123 "2008-11-24T22:32:23Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Doesn’t “Alliance” mean the same thing as “Party”? Not in any dialect of English I’ve ever come across. But even if it did, the acronym would still be CCRA. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/124 "2008-11-25T01:05:17Z")
:dubious: OK, what is a political party, if not a kind of alliance? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/125 "2008-11-25T01:30:14Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > :dubious: OK, what is a political party, if not a kind of alliance? Hyponymy is not synonymy. Just because A is a kind of B does not mean that A and B “mean the same thing”. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/126 "2008-11-25T01:56:29Z")
Yeah, yeah, I know that, but you also know what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/127 "2008-11-25T05:23:10Z")
I’m unimpressed with the recent beer commercials talking about “drinkability.” A little too close in my mind to saying that you should buy our beer because it won’t kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/128 "2008-11-25T05:39:39Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > I’m unimpressed with the recent beer commercials talking about “drinkability.” A little too close in my mind to saying that you should buy our beer because it won’t kill you. Those bug me too. “Our beer has superior drinkability.” Yeah, as opposed to all those other beers mixed with broken glass and razor blades, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/129 "2008-11-25T05:46:47Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > I’m unimpressed with the recent beer commercials talking about “drinkability.” A little too close in my mind to saying that you should buy our beer because it won’t kill you. I took it as “our customers are too freakin stupid to understand our new slogan so we’ll explain it to you!” It’s lucky for them I don’t do “light” anything or I’d switch to guzzling a brand without cute horsies as mascots ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/130 "2008-11-25T06:24:53Z")
A few famous ones from Japan: [Calpis](http://www.asawa.co.jp/asawa02/calpis.jpg) [Creap](http://www.100yen-yaoya.com/item/other/img/creap01.jpg) [Mazda Laputa](http://www2.uah.es/vivatacademia/images/n62/mazda.jpg) (“la puta” = “the hooker” in Spanish.) This one is a bit more obscure: [Drycapot](http://www.kobe-fugetsudo.co.jp/sweets/lespoir/drycapot.html) I can’t help reading it as “dry capotte”, a “capotte” being French slang for condom. > [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Not if it were pronounced “Noggo”. “Nova” and “no va” are pronounced differently in Spanish. A native speaker of the language wouldn’t make the connection, any more than we would think that (say) “Tabell” meant “table”. Snopes, in their article on the Nova, failed to mention something very important: Mexicans and Spanish-speakers in general love, love, love puns. Yes, “nova” and “no va” don’t sound exactly the same, but the London Olympics logo doesn’t exactly look like Lisa Simpson either… Here are just a few examples of native Spanish writers discussing the Nova’s name: [http://mx.geocities.com/chevycavalierii/archivos/Chevy.htm](http://mx.geocities.com/chevycavalierii/archivos/Chevy.htm) > [@](#): > > El nombre era el segundo punto en importancia porque Nova no era recomendable desde el punto de vista del marketing ya que la asociación inmediata indicaba no va, por no va a funcionar. Poco auspicioso para el debut del auto. [http://www.cac-bolivia.com/ver\_noticia.php?cual=19](http://www.cac-bolivia.com/ver_noticia.php?cual=19) > [@](#): > > Como anecdota la generacion 3 de este auto fue producido en Argentina pero por la connotacion de la palabra NOVA…No Va, el auto fue renombrado simplemente a Chevy…pero esta sera una historia para otra occacion. > **[Ups, peNdón](http://notedigonadaytelodigotodo.blogspot.com/2008/03/ups-pendn.html)** > > Muchas empresas líderes en el mercado llegan a nuevos países para lanzar su nueva campaña publicitaria con muy mala pata. Y es que la public... > [@](#): > > • General Motors introdujo en el mercado sudamericano a su nuevo modelo Chevy Nova, no se dieron cuenta de que Nova, en castellano, podía ser interpretado como que el coche “no va”. Esto se vio reflejado en el número de ventas y, afortunadamente, les dio tiempo a rebautizarlo como “Caribe”. [http://funversion.universia.es/humor/textos/traducciones\_incorrectas.jsp](http://funversion.universia.es/humor/textos/traducciones_incorrectas.jsp) > [@](#): > > Cuando la Compañía General Motors introdujo el vehículo Chevy Nova en el mercado suramericano, aparentemente desconocía que “no va” significa “no camina”. Después que la compañía descubrió por qué no vendía ningún vehículo, cambió el nombre de este vehículo en sus mercados hispanos del Caribe. [http://ares.cnice.mec.es/informes/12/contenido/pagina%20146.htm](http://ares.cnice.mec.es/informes/12/contenido/pagina%20146.htm) > [@](#): > > - Las diferencias en el lenguaje (el nombre de un modelo, como sucedió con el Chevrolet Nova, puede significar algo negativo en el mundo hispanoparlante: “no va”, no funciona). And there are lots more… ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/131 "2008-11-25T16:40:00Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > We shouldn’t forget El Paso Natural Gas. 😕 At one point Advanced Microdevices was using the names of WWII Fighter aircraft as the internal names for their processors (i.e., Spitfire, Mustang, Thunderbolt…) This caused some friction when they started to build the processors in [Dresden.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II) ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/132 "2008-11-25T18:24:20Z")
Oh yeah, how about the Navy (?) ads promoting the automated drones and other advanced technology that replace personnel in dangerous situations. Sure, great idea, and a good thing to focus on in advertisements. But then there’s the tagline, “working every day to unman the front lines.” I know what they mean, but the traditional definition of [unman](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unman)is the first thing that springs to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/133 "2008-11-25T20:12:18Z")
Thanks for those cites, **jovan**. Interesting stuff! > [@Unauthorized Cinnamon](#): > > Oh yeah, how about the Navy (?) ads promoting the automated drones and other advanced technology that replace personnel in dangerous situations. Sure, great idea, and a good thing to focus on in advertisements. But then there’s the tagline, “working every day to unman the front lines.” I know what they mean, but the traditional definition of unman is the first thing that springs to mind. Yeah, I’m not real impressed by the Air Force ads with the Predator pilot. Apparently, Army grunts shake his hand and thank him all the time for saving their lives by warning them of an ambush up ahead or something. Then he’s wheeling out one of the drones and says something like, “The most amazing thing is I might save a life today.” Yeah–and then the guy you saved will kill ten people. I’m not seeing the humanitarian aspect of this. ---
**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/134 "2008-11-25T21:04:29Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Sounds like a real bargain to me. The company that I work for once advertised that a gift was “nicer than a tie, not as nice as a Hummer”. In Los Angeles, you can get a massage from a [genuine hobo](http://www.genuinehobo.com/testimonies.aspx)! ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/135 "2008-11-25T21:08:44Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Oh yeah, how about the Navy (?) ads promoting the automated drones and other advanced technology that replace personnel in dangerous situations. Sure, great idea, and a good thing to focus on in advertisements. But then there’s the tagline, “working every day to unman the front lines.” I know what they mean, but the traditional definition of [unman](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unman)is the first thing that springs to mind. I’ve been yelling about this ad for months. Every time it comes on I have to say to the television, “Unman … I don’t think that word means what you think it means.” ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/136 "2008-11-25T22:11:10Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > In more recent car-naming fiascos, the Chevy “crossfire.” Don’t blame Chevy for that one – Crossfire is a [Chrysler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Crossfire) model. **cornflakes** : Think of it as “el PASS-o natural GAS”. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/137 "2008-11-26T12:12:53Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > In more recent car-naming fiascos, the Chevy “crossfire.” It could mean an engine malfunction OR a deadly spray of bullets. Back in the '60s, Chrysler made a “Crossfire” engine manifold for stock car racing. Each bank of cylinders was fed by intake runners that ran across the engine, and a massive plenum connected both banks of runners to the carburetor. Having such long runners was a good idea in theory, but according to Smokey Yunick, it was practically impossible to balance fuel mixture for each cylinder and to keep gas puddles from forming in the plenum. All the same, they are part of automotive lore, much like the Hemis from the 50s and 60s (The modern “Hemis” don’t have anything close to a true hemispherical combustion cylinder.) p.s., thanks, **Sternvogel** ---
**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:** [November 26, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/138 "2008-11-26T12:44:59Z")
**wunderjammer** writes: > [@](#): > > I must be in the minority here, because the brand is very popular, but I can’t hear Trojan without certain things coming to mind. Things like tiny,virile warriors sneaking into the city, etc… I know better than to let a Trojan horse into the gate of “Trojans” always bothered me, too, but for another reason – didn’t the Trojans LOSE that war, pretty clearly? Who the hell names a product after the losers? I can see why they didn’t want to call them, say, “Greeks”. And “Achaeans” or “Danaans” or “Argives” would be too obscure. But to my mind calling them “Trojans”, even if it gives you an association with virile warriors, is asking too much. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/139 "2008-11-26T14:02:54Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > I’m unimpressed with the recent beer commercials talking about “drinkability.” A little too close in my mind to saying that you should buy our beer because it won’t kill you. “Stop by Wendy’s! Our burgers are edible!!” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383/140 "2008-11-26T23:39:10Z")
This is as good a place as any for this – I came across the worst copywriting I’ve seen in a long time today: [“Imagine a World Without Choice… You No Longer Have To!”](http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7055/hpadel5.jpg) Exactly the opposite of what they intended to say. How does someone with this poor of a grasp of the English language end up writing copy for _Hewlett Packard?_ It boggles the mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-worst-branding-ever/473383.md?page=8)