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Quiz about Poorly Researched Advertisement Faux Pas

Poorly Researched: Advertisement Faux Pas Quiz

It's true, advertising does not cross all boundaries. See how much you know about famous advertising faux pas by famous companies. Good luck!

A multiple-choice quiz by Flynn_17. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
Flynn_17

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
200,734

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
3559

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

Last 3 plays: JOHNCzee (7/10), tinydancer90 (8/10), Guest 68 (7/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. In Taiwan, Pepsi-Cola made a very grave error (no pun intended) with their slogan 'Come alive with the Pepsi generation'. The catch phrase was translated a little too literally in Taiwanese, and ended up saying what? Hint

'Death to all drinkers, then rebirth.'

'Pepsi Cola will revive your dead friends.'

'Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.'

'Bring your pets alive once more with Pepsi.'

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. In South America, a company marketed cars called 'Pinto'. After a while, they wondered why they weren't selling. It was because in Brazil 'Pinto' is a slang term for small male genitalia. Which company produced the 'Pinto'? Hint

Fiat

Chrysler

Ford

Nissan

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. In China, Coca-Cola used the name 'Ke-Kou-Ke-La', which means 'bite the wax tadpole' or 'a female horse stuffed with wax' until it was realised what this slogan meant. They had to make do with 'Ko-Kou-Ko-Le' in the end. What does 'Ko-Kou-Ko-Le' mean? Hint

'Coca-Cola makes a happy drinker'

'Glee'

'Smile Coca-Cola'

'Happiness in the mouth'

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Coca-Cola in the Caribbean: in Cuba, the Coca-Cola Company tried to write 'Tome Coca-Cola' in the sky, but an unfortunate wind blew the sign. Instead of saying 'Drink Coca-Cola', it said 'Fear Coca-Cola'. What word was 'tome' mistaken for? Hint

Tiepe

Teme

Tandra

Lome

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. The Parker company made a colossal mistake when they tried to market their leak proof pens. Instead of advertising 'It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you', they accidentally claimed that 'It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant'. In what language was this mistake made? Hint

Greek

Portuguese

Spanish

Chinese

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. When sung, the lyrics of this French Coca-Cola marketing campaign were easy to mishear. Instead of then telling you to 'Have a Coke and a smile', you may have heard them telling you to have a Coke and a ____ ? Hint

Cake

Mouse

Revolver

Apothecary

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Chi Chi's, the Mexican food chain, is actually American. After all, no self-respecting Mexican would call a restaurant Chi Chi's, as it is a rude term. What are 'Chi Chis' in Mexico? Hint

Breasts

Old cars

Badly behaved children

Vagrants

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. 'Mensa' also got their name fundamentally wrong. Once again, Spanish is the problematic language, as 'Mensa' means something very ironic to the people of all Spanish speaking countries. What, though? Hint

Useless

Cafeteria

Stupid woman

Wires

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. KFC told the world that their chicken was 'finger lickin' good', but what did they tell the people of China? Hint

'The best dead birds'

'Eat your fingers off'

'Lick it and love'

'Horrible death now'

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. When the Dairy Association experienced huge success with the 'Got Milk?' campaign, they decided to run the advertisement in Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation meant something rather inappropriate. What? Hint

'Milk - from the cow to you'

'Nothing sucks like this'

'Are you lactating?'

'Drink milk and die'

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: 'Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.'

More often than not, it is the Coca-Cola advertisers that make serious faux pas, and often in the Far East countries, such as China and Taiwan. This advertising campaign lasted a very short time, and was removed from all advertisements when someone finally realised the literal nature of the slogan.

Answer: Ford

The Pinto was introduced in 1971 to compete against other small cars that were being imported. It was designed to be a simple car that could be cheaply modified over the years, and was often modified until Ford stopped production in 1980.

Answer: 'Happiness in the mouth'

Another badly translated slogan, 'Ke-Kou-Ke-La' was supposed to be used in an advertisement which featured no speech, only a bottle of Coca-Cola and the name 'Coca-Cola'. When translated into Mandarin text, it became 'Ke-Kou-Ke-La'. What this name meant was soon realised, and this name was not used. Instead, Coca-Cola used 'Ko-Kou-Ko-Le' .

Answer: Teme

'Teme', the Spanish verb for 'to fear'. Coca-Cola tried to make up for this faux pas by producing a lithograph of bull-fighting. Unbeknownst to them, this was an even worse faux pas. Bull fighting is illegal in Cuba.

Answer: Spanish

The company assumed that 'embarazar' meant 'to embarrass'. It actually means 'to impregnate', as the phrase in Spanish for 'to embarrass' is 'avergonzar'.

Answer: Mouse

This is due to the similarity of the words for 'smile' ('souriez'), and 'mouse' ('souris'). This campaign, a Coca-Cola faux pas, ran for a long time. Although it was highly confusing, the lyrics were technically correct.

7. Chi Chi's, the Mexican food chain, is actually American. After all, no self-respecting Mexican would call a restaurant Chi Chi's, as it is a rude term. What are 'Chi Chis' in Mexico?

Answer: Breasts

Another company by the name of Chi Chi's makes salsa, and uses the slogan 'good no matter what'. I wonder if they would still use that slogan if they knew what 'Chi Chis' meant in Mexican slang?

Answer: Stupid woman

'Mensa' is not an acronym, but actually comes from the Latin word for 'table', and this symbolises the round table nature of the organisation. It also means 'cafeteria' in German, but as the members say; 'We are well aware the word means other things in other languages. We don't care.'

9. KFC told the world that their chicken was 'finger lickin' good', but what did they tell the people of China?

Answer: 'Eat your fingers off'

This happened in 2002, and although the slogan was researched before it was released, this did not stop the faux pas from occurring.

Answer: 'Are you lactating?'

Another advertising 'accident' was experienced by Coors. They tried out their 'turn it loose' slogan in Spanish speaking countries, only to have the slogan translated to 'suffer from diarrhoea'.

Source: Author Flynn_17

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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