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

Lack of cross-cultural awareness[edit | edit source]

many marketing blunders result from a company that tries to market a product or brand in another country without awareness of cultural sensitivities and attitudes in that country
many such gaffes arise from poor translation
others arise from a lack of awareness of consumer cultural preferences
- for example, in the 1990s, Wilson Sporting Goods company hired an American consulting firm to analyze the potential for the brand's presence in the Brazilian soccer (futbol) market
  - Wilson had an existing strong presence in the tennis category
  - and remains so, in the 2020s -- without any breakthrough into soccer
  - soccer is a heavily brand-sensitive market in Brazil, and consumers simply did not associate "Wilson" with soccer
see
- Blooper proves bum deal for Sharwoods | Advertising | The Guardian
- "Results of Poor Cross Cultural Awareness | by arman linkbuilding | Medium"

now called "BK", the maker of "Burger King" hamburgers tried to promote its mascot by posing the "Burger King" in a variety of everyday or known scenes (such as in an audience at an event) or having the mascot show up unexpectedly, such as in a man's bed when he woke up
however, the Burger King mascot was seen as "creepy"
- Burger King's King - Top 10 Creepiest Product Mascots - TIME
- The Burger King Returns as Creepy as Ever | Miami New Times

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

similarly to the Chevy "Nova," the soft drink's launch in Mexico was marred by an unintended translation
this time with the Mexican slang term "fresca" for lesbian
- see: Advertising blunders: Five of the lesser-known classics (linkedin.com)
  - derived from: Results of Poor Cross Cultural Awareness | by arman linkbuilding | Medium

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

the British writing instrument maker Parker launched a slogan for its "Quink" line
- "Avoid embarrassment -- use Quink"
but instead mistranslated "embarrassment":
- "Avoid pregnancy - use Quink"

when the British firm decided to sell its curry sauces in India, it decided upon the name "Bundh"
the word, "bundh", however, means "ass" ("arse" in Britain) in the local Punjabi language
- see : Blooper proves bum deal for Sharwoods | Advertising | The Guardian

the Japanese automobile brand is known as a preferred brand for lesbians
the preference is a result of deliberate marketing by Suburu
- in the 1990s the company ran demographic studies of its buyers
  - it discovered that "female head of household" was a strong demographic
  - so the company decided to deliberately market the vehicle to lesbians
see: How Subarus Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lesbians - The Atlantic