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Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

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Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#91

Post by kordless »

alan_cx wrote: post #41
rpedela wrote: post #16

What is wrong with people thinking the logo looks like underwear? I am willing to bet people are more likely to remember the logo and company. I remember when everyone was making fun of the name "Wii", but I would be surprised if that name, which generated free publicity, did not help Nintendo. If the logo reminded people of genocide, okay change it. But underwear? Seems like a good thing to me since they might remem…

From a UK perspective, the problem is that "pants" can be used to say something is rubbish, or similar. We might say "that new Yahoo Mail design is a load of pants". With the Wii example, there is not the same sort of common use in any country I know of. (Maybe there is, but I don't know) So, OK, it is amusing and probably memorable, but as I Brit I would have tell them that they don't want a bunch of Brits saying th…

According to his survey, 26 Brits said it. Hardly worth thinking about really.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#92

Post by lerchr »

jakestein wrote: post #38
TeMPOraL wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably upper management without sense of humour.

I can verify this [1]. The management team does not have a sense of humor. [1] I am cofounder and COO

I bet the people here definitely don't appreciate funny names for internal projects either!

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#94

Post by harvestmoon »

phpnode wrote: post #3

the white logo in the header bar still looks like Y fronts![0] 0. in the UK.

The logo keeps on making me giggle. It looks like underwear to me. I don't know if I'd have seen it without reading this article, but now that it's in my head, it's hard to get out.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#95

Post by brianmcconnell »

I work on translation technology, and have seen some pretty bad examples of companies choosing names that have bad connotations elsewhere.

One of my favorites is Evite, which means "avoid!" in Spanish, not exactly a good name for a party invite service.

The all time winner for badly named tech products was the Commodore Pet Computer, which was launched with great fanfare in France (and elsewhere). The only problem is pet means "fart" in French.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#96

Post by popopje »

JonnieCache wrote: post #67
chimeracoder wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> . UK, where pants is pants and not trousers. ;) I made this mistake once when I spent a summer in Ireland in high school. (I should add here that the people at this summer program were noticeably more homophobic than I was used to back home[0]) I had borrowed a pair of "trousers" from a friend for a costume for some event. When asking permission from the RA later that night to go to a different dorm after lights-ou…

Confusingly, in the north of england and in scotland, pants means trousers, just like in the US.

not in my experience of scotland, though i do know geordies and irish who say pants.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#97

Post by jakestein »

lerchr wrote: post #92
jakestein wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can verify this [1]. The management team does not have a sense of humor. [1] I am cofounder and COO

I bet the people here definitely don't appreciate funny names for internal projects either!

Lerch!

We still use Awesom-o and Butters every day

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#98

Post by stordoff »

JonnieCache wrote: post #67
chimeracoder wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> . UK, where pants is pants and not trousers. ;) I made this mistake once when I spent a summer in Ireland in high school. (I should add here that the people at this summer program were noticeably more homophobic than I was used to back home[0]) I had borrowed a pair of "trousers" from a friend for a costume for some event. When asking permission from the RA later that night to go to a different dorm after lights-ou…

Confusingly, in the north of england and in scotland, pants means trousers, just like in the US.

Never heard that in Yorkshire. Possibly a more localised thing?

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#100

Post by kamjam »

dasil003 wrote: post #65
bitwize wrote: post #62

Psh, that's not even as big a logo botch as the Brits committed to themselves: the UK Office of Government Commerce unveiled -- to much tittering and whispering -- a new "OGC" logo back in 2008 which, when rotated ninety degrees clockwise, looked like a stick figure standing and, er, "'aving a wank" in the local slang. OGC quickly reverted to its old logo, correcting the er, boner, but nevertheless in some circles (p…

What about the London 2012 Olympics logo? That can't be undone, and it can't be unseen once you see it (ie. the Fedex logo effect not in a good way).

The London 2012 logo was a pile pants :)

Fortunately, once the games kicked off people forgot about the logo and it was a very successful event by all accounts and there was a huge buzz in the air with everyone (I'm a Londoner). Still can't believe they paid that much money for that!

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