Blunders in business

What has communication got to do with business??? If you say nothing – you gotta be kidding me! Blunders made in businesses, are seldom forgiven by the market and what’s more, you might make yourself a laughing stock because of a simple mistake like a faulty translation. Sounds farfetched? Read on.
i. Parker Pen Company had developed and promoted in USA, the first reliable fountain pen that did not
stain people’s shirt pockets while carrying them. The company used the tagline ‘Avoid embarrassment –
Use parker Pens’. When the company decided to enter South America and translated the promotion line
into Spanish, they got a response that was different than what they had anticipated. The Spanish word
for embarrassment also means pregnancy. Parker Pens were being promoted as contraceptives!
ii. A museum is Japan had a gem of a message advising the patrons in English to “Refrain from taking
photographs and reproducing.”
iii. Ford introduced a low cost truck – ‘Fiera’ in South America. It kept wondering about the low sales till it
came to know that ‘fiera’ meant ‘ugly, old woman’ in Spanish.
iv. Toyota’s MR2 sold well in many countries except France. MR2 often pronounced as ‘merde’ means
‘human waste’ in French!
v. Hotels across the world have also contributed a fair share to communication bloopers:
 ‘Please leave your values at the front desk.’ (Paris)
 ‘You are respectfully requested to take advantages of the chambermaids.’(Tokyo)
 ‘For anyone who has children and doesn’t know it, there is a day-care centre on the first floor.’ (Moscow)
 ‘The manager has personally passed the water served here.’ (Acapuleo)
 ‘The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time, we regret you will be unbearable.’ (Bucharest)
Hilarious isn’t it? But this has cost hundreds of dollars to the companies that have mis-communicated. So what
do all the young managers do? Stick to the saying:
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself!”