可口可樂在新西蘭做了個非常失敗的廣告

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Coke's New Zealand blunder: Hello, death

可口可樂在新西蘭鬧出烏龍：你好，死亡

What Coca-Cola might have thought was a harmless Kiwi greeting has turned into an embarrassing PR blunder.

可口可樂公司認爲沒問題的新西蘭問候語卻演變成了尷尬的公關失誤。

The beverage manufacturer has run signage around the country that reads: "Kia ora, mate."

該飲料廠商在全國印有“Kia ora, mate.”字樣。

But mate is the te reo Maori word for death or dead.

但在毛利語中mate這個單詞指“死亡”或“死了”。

Communications expert Cas Carter said it showed the multinational company had not bothered to take the time to do its research, or to seek local guidance.

人際交往專家Cas Carter說這表明這家跨國公司沒有特意花時間研究或向當地人請教。

推特用戶@waikatoreo：

語言混用失敗。

推特用戶@DarrenDavis10：

試着“接地氣”卻弄巧成拙。在毛利語中“kia ora mate”的意思是“你好，死亡”。雖然含糖量高的軟飲料不好，尤其對口腔健康有害，但據我所知也不是那麼快致死的。

"There is a growing trend among international companies to try and reflect local culture in their marketing.  Done well it is awesome - done poorly - it is a major risk," she said.

她說：“跨過公司中流行一種潮流，就是想在營銷中嘗試反映當地文化，做好了效果很好，但如果搞砸了就太冒險了。”

"The blunder is even greater because 'mate' is such a well-known Maori word because it is in our most well-known haka – which has been seen all over the world."

“這個錯誤糗大了，因爲‘mate’這個毛利語的詞大家太熟悉了，它就出現在最著名的哈卡舞（新西蘭橄欖球隊在比賽前跳的舞）中，全世界都看得到。”

Social media users have pointed out the irony in a soft drink company using the phrase.

社交用戶已經指出了一家軟飲料公司使用這個說法的諷刺意味。

推特用戶@surayacasey：

就算不提不懂毛利語中“mate”一詞的意思，我也覺得從未聽過有新西蘭白人用毛利語說“kia ora, mate”，聽起來太過刻意。

"Coca-Cola is not the healthiest drink so saying 'hello, death' looks like they're fessing up how unhealthy the drink really is," Carter said.

Carter說：“可口可樂不是最健康的飲料，所以說‘你好，死亡’好像就是在承認這款飲料其實有多不健康。”

She said a clever apology could fix it quickly but the blunder was unlikely to affect the company's bottom line.

她說一個明智的道歉可能會迅速解決問題，但這一失誤不太可能影響公司的利潤。

University of Auckland Business School head of marketing Bodo Lang said cross-cultural mistakes in marketing and advertising were more common than people realised.

奧克蘭大學商學院營銷主任Bodo Lang說：“營銷和廣告中的跨文化錯誤比人們意識到的更爲普遍。”

"Generally they occur when a global brand uses language or cultural icons inappropriately. The most common response to such incidences is humour and a short burst of commenting and copycat activity on social media," he said.

他說：“通常在一個國際品牌使用語言或文化符號不當時會出現這種情況，最常見的反應就是一笑了之以及在社交媒體上短期的熱議和效仿。”

"One of the easy ways to avoid such blunders is to enlist the help of professional translator or a cultural consultant. Incurring such a small upfront cost is typically worth it because it prevents having to deal with bigger issues later on and dealing with disappointed customers through the various touch points that global brands have."

“避免這種錯誤的一個簡單方法就是求助於專業翻譯或文化顧問，前期花費的小成本通常是值得的，能避免後期去處理更大的麻煩以及通過跨國品牌分店安慰失望的消費者。”

Coca-Cola has been contacted for comment.

已聯繫可口可樂公司對此作出迴應。