Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as
"Suffer from diarrhea."

Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into German only to find
out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the
"manure stick".

Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American
campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free", was translated
into the Japanese market as "When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed
that your mind seems to be free and empty."

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging
as in the US, with the beautiful baby on the label. Later they learned that in
Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside,
since most people can't read English.

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious
porno magazine.

An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which
promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa),  the shirts
read "I saw the potato" (la papa).

In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into
"Schweppes Toilet Water."

Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings
your ancestors back from the grave," in Chinese.

Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken"
was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken 
affectionate."

When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to
have read, "it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you".  Instead, the
company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass,
so the  ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant"