In a recent article, which appeared in the September 2012 issue
of the Harvard Law Review, it was emphasised that companies doing
business in China should take a great deal of care when choosing
brand names. The peculiar challenges faced by China include
transliterations, the fact that the language consists of thousands
of characters, and the fact that there are significant regional
differences.
In considering these challenges, the article focussed on two
examples of bad brand name choices faced by companies recently.
First, there was Clairol's decision to call a
deodorant Mist Stick which was not welcomed by the Germans
as 'mist' means 'manure' in
German. The problem faced by Clairol, in this instance, was the
public's reluctance to purchase a deodorant alluding to a bad
smell. Second, there was Mazda's decision to call a mini-van
Laputa, which offended the people of Chile since
'puta' means 'prostitute' in
Spanish. Car manufacturers such as GM also faced
