With 'f**k' pants on spokesperson Fu Mingxia and bad can grammar on the packaging of their flagship products, the Western soda giants need to mind their language in China

On the evening of February 22, Olympic gold-medallist diver Fu Mingxia flew into Guangzhou for a Sprite promo gig. The newly appointed face of the soft drinks giant, she was recruited to woo China's sweet-toothed youngsters with her image of youthful success and good clean fun.

She may have wondered why representatives of the Hong Kong media were particularly interested in the clothes she was wearing, snidely asking her if she had specially chosen her outfit for the occasion. "These (clothes) are what the image designers selected for me," Fu Mingxia replied brightly. "I came directly from the airport, I didn't have time to decided for myself."

Unfortunately, when the journalists went back to file their stories and develop their pictures, what emerged was an image of the youngster wearing trousers covered with fk you, bitch, f*er and other choice English expressions.

The folks at the Coca-Cola Co. rallied around to defend their latest signing's slip-up as an innocent mistake. Coca-Cola Co. PR manager Zhao Yanhong explained that Fu had been bought a white suit created by Hong Kong designer Walter Ma, but at the last minute discovered it didn't fit. She changed into a pair of loaned stretch pants from a Japanese label noted for the "colorful" language of its clothing. Unfortunately, the Qinghua student failed to note the filth scrawled on the legs.

Do You Speak English?

It's not just the folks at Sprite who are in need of English language advice: Arch soft drinks rival Pepsi has proudly announced to the buying public that their recently launched Pepsi Light is "Low in Calorie." Fearing pirated substandard soft drinks being unleashed on an unsuspecting public, a call to the PR departments in Beijing and Shanghai confirmed that this was in fact the real thing, marketed to the Chinese public.

A spokesman for the company confirmed that although the designs and slogans were all written in China, they were approved by the US parent company. They seemed slightly surprised, and grateful, to be alerted about the quirky English on their cans. "We've emailed the parent company to ask them if the English is correct or not," said the spokesman. So was this possibly an error on the part of Pepsi? "No comment."

The Good Old DaysIt seems surprising that companies who have already been in China for many years are still making simple linguistic mistakes. Johan Bjorkston, who specializes in correcting the image and PR blunders of overseas companies for Aboda Communications, says many of these mistakes seem to be made as firms go through the process of localizing their staffs, replacing overseas corporate executives with homegrown ones who understand the local market. "Chinese people are much better (than foreigners) at marketing to their own country," explains Bjorkston. But this comes with a caveat: "International brands must still be careful to retain control of the global brand strategy."

Interestingly, the problems that the multinationals now face are the polar opposite of the mistakes made when Western firms first brought Western products to the Chinese people in the 1980s. Previous problems were centered on too many English-speakers trying to create Chinese slogans. When Pepsi brand-name 7-Up arrived in China, they hit on the literal translation Qi Shang) for a Chinese name. Unfortunately, the choice set itself up for Chinese to turn it into the four-character phrase (Qishang Baxia), which means to be agitated, perturbed, and in an uncertain state of mind: not quite the image the marketers were searching for. The name was ditched in favor of (Qixi, 'seven happinesses'), and the problem resolved -- but the damage had already been done to 7-Up's reputation.

Other companies did not find their difficulties resolved so swiftly. Bjorkston recalls how carmaker Volvo initially decided to stick with their internationally recognized English name and not bother with a Chinese name. The buying public, however, had other ideas, and the cars quickly came to be known as Woerwo, without any clear meaning in Chinese. Realizing their negligence and wanting more out of a Chinese name, they came up with Dafuhao, lit., great and affluent, but this only caused more confusion. Today, the company has four or five Chinese names to their credit. Woerwo is still the most widely known.

The Customer is Always Right

So as these Chinese companies rectify their shoddy Chinese problems, does the buying public really care about - or, for that matter, even notice - English mistakes on the part of marketing executives?If the inhabitants of China's chat rooms are anything to go by, they certainly do. Many comments on Fu Mingxia's faux pas were vehement. "I think the shame is on Coca-Cola," exploded one. "A very simple press conference was messed up. Can we trust your drink? Is Coca-Cola drinkable?" Another cast doubt upon the Qinghua student's qualifications for admission: "As a first-class campus, Qinghua University should examine its own enrollment system," vented another. "It's too relaxed towards sports stars."

One brave netizen defended her. "Can anyone tell me where they can find the English words in an authorized Chinese dictionary?" said Lu Yazi. "I believe few Chinese people dare to say they understand every dirty Chinese word, let alone dirty English words." And maybe that's the root of the problem.

_Contact the author on: jol@cityweekend.com.cn _