When advertising becomes an involuntary laughing matter

1 Panasonic: When sex doesn't sell!

In the 1990s, Panasonic set out to conquer the PC market. The cartoon character Woody Woodpecker was to help the Japanese company achieve this. The touchscreen device was given the name "The Woody". However, Panasonic had not taken into account that "The Woody" loosely translated into English means the tribe and has clear sexual connotations. But that wasn't the end of it: Panasonic topped off the failed translation by throwing the slogan "Touch Woody" into the race.

2. KFC: Call to enjoy your own fingers

What works in the USA should actually also work in Asia - this is apparently what the marketing managers of the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken thought when they wanted to tap into this market in the 1980s. The pithy slogan "It's finger lickin' good!" was translated into Chinese. However, something went wrong with the translation, so KFC advertised itself as "Eat your fingers!". The Chinese seem to have forgiven the company for this mistake, however, as the company now has more than 4,000 restaurants there.

3 Braniff: Are nudists the airline's target group?

The airline Braniff wanted to attract people's attention by advertising its luxurious leather seats. While "Fly in leather" is likely to impress discerning air travelers in America, the slogan "Vuela en Cuero" translated into Spanish was not at all well received, especially in Mexico. After all, it can hardly be distinguished from "Vuela en Cueros", which means "Fly naked".

4 Pampers: The criminalization of the stork

There is hardly anyone in this country who does not know that the stork brings the babies. The diaper manufacturer took advantage of this and used the stork to advertise itself. Pampers then used this image for advertising in Japan without any preconceptions, but experienced a crash landing as the Japanese were not familiar with it. The stork caused confusion and mistrust, as people misunderstood that the bird was taking away their children.

5 Mitsubishi: From the space cat to masturbation

The Japanese car manufacturer has given its off-road vehicle the name Pajero in order to equate its characteristics with those of the South American big cat of the same name - it moves smoothly and gracefully even in rough terrain. However, despite all the euphoria, people have forgotten that in Chile and Argentina, for example, "el pajero" means "wanker".

When puns work: