More and more companies are beginning to understand the importance of reaching out to the growing Hispanic population. But too many still don't know how to accomplish their marketing effectively or with good taste.  One of the most common mistakes businesses make is thinking all they have to do is translate their mainstream marketing messages into Spanish, word for word, and Hispanics will respond.  This is not only ineffective, but it can also be insulting.

Translation mistakes can do more than embarrass, they can cost you in lost business, damaged reputation and market alienation.  In fact, it's the horrible gift that keeps on giving, starting with the customer who initially read the translated information, and spreading to all the family and friends that person tells. 

Translation Mistakes from Around the World:

• When "translated" into Spanish, the Dairy Association's successful "Got Milk?" advertising campaign asked Latino consumers, "Are you Lactating?"
• When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.
• When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However, the company's translator mistakenly thought the Spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the ads said, "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
• An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of the desired "I Saw the Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed, "I Saw the Potato."
• Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," got terribly mangled in another Spanish translation. A photo of Perdue with one of his birds appeared on billboards all over Mexico with a caption that explained, "It takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused."