Foreign Branding - Products Renamed To Avoid Offence

Products Renamed To Avoid Offence

• The company Bic changed its name from Bich to prevent it from being mispronounced in English speaking countries as bitch.
• Mitsubishi Pajero had to be renamed to Montero in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, since pajero is a Spanish slang term for one who masturbates (with similar connotations as the British slang term wanker). Mitsubishi originally got the name Pajero from the pampas cat, Leopardus pajeros.
• The Honda Fit was originally intended to be named the "Fitta", but the name was shortened and in some markets renamed completely upon discovering that in several Nordic languages, "fitta" is a vulgar word for the female genitalia.
• Buick had to rename its Lacrosse to Allure in Canada, because it was a euphemism for masturbation in Quebec.
• The SEAT Málaga was marketed in Greece as the Seat Gredos, because the word Malaga was considered very similar to Malaka, a common Greek swear word for one who masturbates.
• The U.S. fast food chain Taco Bell formerly sold a burrito called a chili-cheese burrito. Its name was changed when many people became aware that the original name, chilito, is used as a slang term for a small penis.
• The Ford Maverick was intended to be marketed in Brazil as the Ford Pinto, but no one in Brazil would identify Pinto as a horse breed, since Pinto is a Brazilian informal term for “penis”.
• In Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro, Nestlé could not sell instant coffee called Kenjara because the name resembles Serbo-Croatian vulgar words related to defecation.
• The Toyota MR2 sportscar is named MR in France, because a way of pronouncing it, "merdeux", sounds like the word for shitty in French.
• The popular Vicks brand of over-the-counter cough medication was renamed Wick in Germany, to avoid too much a similarity with the German word "wichsen" meaning to wank.
• In Israel, Korean car company Kia Motors adjusted their original pronunciation to sound like "Kaya" in promotional material, since a Hebrew slang pronunciation for "vomit" (קיא) sounds like the original brand name. This decision was later reversed, and now the company uses the normal pronunciation.
• Church's Chicken is known as Texas Chicken outside of North America, presumably to appeal to non-Christians who would not understand it was named for its founder George Church, and not a religious group.