Top 5 International Marketing Fails

Top 5 International Marketing Fails

Alison Kam

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1.

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Yellow Pages attempted to advertise Bi Bim Bap, and added a bowl of noodles graphic to get their message across. However, Bi Bim Bap is a rice dish, and this marketing attempt was lost in translation.

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2.

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Pringles attempted to celebrate Ramadan with the Muslim community by writing 'Ramadan Mubarak' on their chips display. While they may have had good intentions, this was being marketed on smokey bacon flavoured Pringles, which is an ironic marketing fail since pigs are sacred in Islam and Muslims don't eat bacon.

3.

Kurl-on mattress company launched a 'Bounce Back' campaign to advertise their mattresses. They wanted to use relevant cultural icons in order to sell more products. This illustration shows Malala Yousafzai, a girl who was shot in the head by the taliban at age 14, then proceeded to advocate for girls' rights before becoming the youngest Nobel Prize winner. Kurl-on tried to use this girl's inspiring story to show how you can 'Bounce Back', when her story is completely unrelated to mattresses. It is incredibly insensitive to use this ad campaign, and the marketing fail was soon pulled.

4.

An Indian ice cream company used Adolf Hitler to market their frozen goods in 2015, as they didn't realize how offensive this is to the international world. The founder of MVF Products was said to have used Hitler's likeness because of his uncle's short temper. This goes to show the cultural difference in countries around our world.

5.

When Mercedes-Benz expanded into China, they decided to go by the company name 'Bensi'. What they didn't research is the Chinese translation for this word. Bensi means 'rush to die' in Chinese which was not a very trustworthy or reputable name of a brand for Chinese consumers. This happened because Mercedes-Benz didn't do their cultural difference research beforehand.

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