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Nov 20, 2013 · The solution is to fix the problem. HSBC actually let the problematic campaign run for several years before remediating the issue – yikes.
HSBC discovered this when its “Assume nothing” slogan was converted to “Do nothing” in several countries.
- A U.S. President’s Love For Poland
- $10 Million of Nothing
- Nothing Sucks Like An Electrolux
- Gastronomical Translation Blunders
- A Valentine’s Role Reversal
- A Life-Or-Death Translation
- Don’T Make The Same Mistake
Our review of troublesome and hilarious translation mistakes starts with a famous speech by President Carter in 1997. When the US president visited Poland, he hired an interpreter that clearly didn’t have a great grasp of the Polish language. When the president meant to say, “I left the United States this morning,” his interpreter turned it into “I...
The HSBC bank had been using the slogan “Assume Nothing”—meaning anything and everything is possible at their bank. This expressed the company’s investment strategy and appealed to their English clients. Once the brand decided to start a global campaign, their slogan was translated into “Do Nothing” in many languages. Of course, their audience unde...
Swedish brand Electrolux learned the hard way that international expansion requires thorough preparation—especially in the context of content translation and localization. When the company started selling vacuum cleaners in the US, the branding campaign focused on promoting the suction power of the devices with a slogan: “Nothing sucks like an Elec...
It’s all too common to find translation mistakes on restaurant menus—especially the English versions of their menus. Usually these errors are the result of literal translations by affordable internet translators. That’s why one Polish restaurant’s customers could order “ice cream with lawyer,” and an Arabic hotel offered in their buffet a dish call...
In the 1950s, chocolate company Morozoff wanted to promote Valentine’s Day tradition of men buying chocolate for women—something that had been successful in the US but hadn’t yet appeared in Japan. Because of a translation error, the ad campaign advertised Valentine’s Day as a tradition when women bought chocolate for men. Luckily for Morozoff, thi...
Proper translationcouldn’t be more important than it is in medicine. In 1980, a Florida hospital admitted a patient in a coma. His Spanish-speaking family described his state as “intoxicado,” which was understood literally by paramedics and doctors as “intoxicated.” A translator familiar with Cuban Spanish would have known that the family meant the...
As you can see, literal and unprofessional translations can have very serious consequences in business, finances, and even health. That’s why it’s always worth using the services of a professional translation company. To explore what Summa Linguae Technologies can do for your company, check out our translation and localization services.
- HSBC Bank. HSBC Bank was forced to rebrand its entire global private banking operations after bringing a U.S. campaign overseas. In 2009, the worldwide bank spent millions of dollars to scrap its 5-year-old "Assume Nothing" campaign.
- KFC. While most businesses try to make a good impression while expanding into a foreign country, fried-chicken franchise KFC got off on the wrong foot when it opened in China in the late 1980s.
- Coors. American beer maker Coors discovered that slang doesn't always translate well. When bringing its cool "Turn It Loose" campaign to Spain, it appears executives forgot to ensure the translation would resonate with consumers.
- Dairy Association. The American Dairy Association and Dairy Council found out that even the best campaigns in the U.S can easily flop overseas if not translated properly.
Mar 11, 2019 · HSBC had not considered the language differences when taking its “Assume Nothing” campaign abroad. While this tagline was strategic in the United States, the translation in many foreign countries meant “do nothing,” which had the opposite effect that HSBC desired.
May 5, 2023 · HSBC has seen off an attempt by its biggest shareholder to break up the bank, with an “overwhelming majority” of investors voting Friday to keep the business intact.
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Aug 24, 2018 · In 2009, HSBC Bank’s global private banking enterprise ran into trouble when its five-year-old tagline, “Assume Nothing,” was awkwardly translated as “Do Nothing” in many countries. HSBC Bank apparently did nothing to ensure their slogan was properly translated in the global environment.
