Marketing gaffes

"Gaffe" = a bad mistake that should have been avoided

Marketing gaffes occur when a company "markets" (advertise, sell, promote) a brand without anticipating negative consequences or consumer backlash

Classic marketing gaffes

General Motors promoted the Chevrolet "Nova" without realizing that the name, "Nova" would be understood to Spanish speakers as "no va", or "doesn't go"
- wikipedia calls this story an "urban legend": Chevrolet Chevy II / Nova - Wikipedia
- however, the story came from somewhere, so it was most likely a common joke in Spanish-speaking Nova markets

In 1978, Honda launched a sports sedan
- marketed as an affordable, easy to drive sports car that women could purchaser as well as men
however, Japanese consumers became wary of the car because it had a distinct positioning of the lever to recline the passenger seat
- located facing the driver (in the middle) rather than the on the outer (by the door),
- consumers in Japan took offense, calling it the skenobu, for "horny knob" because it allowed for the driver to recline the passenger
- the model became unpopular in Japan because of bad publicity about the lever's placement