troyce | International naming

Saw this on the web and just had to pass it on. It's a good example why you should check out slang in other countries before you name your company or product:

http://www.fag-detectoriii.de/ENG/index.html

I guess they compete with the makers of gaydar :)

I took an international marketing course in my mis-spent youth as a marketing major, and this was a fun topic. All the examples of naming going wrong in other cultures. Like the Ford Matador, which in some Latin countries mean't Ford Killer. This was the class we had to develop a marketing plan for a product in a country we chose at the beginning of the class year. At the midpoint, the instructor gave everyone the same product to market. An IUD. I felt for the person who had chosen Ireland, where IUDs are illegal. I have no idea what he did, as I dropped the course when I ran screaming from the College of Business. Personally, I think it would have been fun to develop a marketing plan involving the black market, subverting national laws, and illegal payoffs :)