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Lost in translation (and in my brain)
Thursday, July 23, 2009 — posted by Alan Pringle
Last night, a bit of spam managed to worm its way through the filters on a personal email account, and I have to admit I glanced at the content while scanning previews of messages. That's when I spotted a paragraph that really jumped out at me:They have good management systems, product quality inspection system. And international speedboat (EMS) is the door - door accurate! Soon!
My thought process was, What's up with the international speedboats? And why are emergency medical services (EMS) using these speedboats? I knew that the person who wrote the content was likely not a native English speaker, but I could not figure out what the writer was trying to communicate.
This morning, I finally realized what the message was trying to say: the company uses EMS worldwide delivery services for prompt and accurate delivery to my door. My brain must not have been firing on all cylinders last night when I thought EMS meant "emergency medical services."
I don't think I've ever spent as much time thinking about a company's marketing message, but my thoughts weren't about using the company's services--I was merely trying to comprehend the message itself. That's not what the company intended, I'm sure.
Marketing for a global audience--particularly one that associates EMS with "emergency medical services"--is not an easy thing!
Labels: humor, localization
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