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I had a similar case in a global management text concerning Toyota and the "malfunctioning brake" fiasco. The case was written as if Toyota had been tried and found guilty, when in fact no evidence had been found of any vehicle malfunction (including door mats). This is in spite of the fact that private and government agencies in both Japan and the US had investigated the cases and done thorough checks on the cars involved. Good reason to do some fact checking before presenting cases from texts, even if we really shouldn't have to fact check textbooks in the first place! Doug On Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 12:32 PM, Kiyak, Tunga <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > That’s most likely an urban legend as well. The claim is that Ford Pinto > was renamed and sold as Ford Corcel after the blunder was noticed. The > problem with that is that Corcel was actually introduced in Brazil in 1968 > (and developed in Brazil by a company that was later acquired by Ford). > That’s 2 years BEFORE Ford Pinto was ever marketed (it was introduced in > the US in 1970). **** > > ** ** > > Doing some quick Googling, there is some brief research about the Ford > Pinto claim at http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=619 and it reaches > the same conclusion…**** > > ** ** > > Tunga**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > *From:* Ghoshal, Animesh [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Friday, June 15, 2012 18:10 > *To:* Kiyak, Tunga; [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* RE: [AIB-L] FW: [AIB-L] Perpetuating falsehoods: The Chevrolet > Nova sold poorly in Spanish-speaking countries because its name translates > as "doesn't go" in Spanish**** > > ** ** > > Thank you, Romie and Tunga, for alerting us to the possibility that some > of the “facts” used textbook discussions of the cultural aspects of > international business are not quite factual. **** > > ** ** > > I wonder if anyone has investigated the claim that the Ford Pinto had to > be renamed in Brazil after Ford realized that in Portuguese slang pinto is > a small male appendage. Is this also an urban legend?**** > > ** ** > > Animesh Ghoshal**** > > ** ** > > *From:* Kiyak, Tunga [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Friday, June 15, 2012 4:08 PM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: [AIB-L] FW: [AIB-L] Perpetuating falsehoods: The Chevrolet > Nova sold poorly in Spanish-speaking countries because its name translates > as "doesn't go" in Spanish**** > > ** ** > > I number of us had engaged in a similar discussion back in May 2002 on > Global Interact Network (GINLIST – a now defunct discussion list). There > were several translation examples that we discussed as urban legends; the > Chevy Nova example, the Coca-Cola being translated into Chinese as "bite > the wax tadpole", and Pepsi’s campaign in Taiwan being translated as "Pepsi > will bring your ancestors back from the dead" as well as others.**** > > ** ** > > A few of us tried to track the citations in the textbooks to their > original sources and quickly went nowhere. At the end, we found several > books that simply cited each other or mentioning these cases as anecdotes > without any credible references. The earliest mention of the Chevy Nova > ‘blunder’ we could find was a WSJ article from January 13, 1977 written by > a staff reporter discussing the business of technical translation. The > conclusion of the discussion was that these are all urban legends that have > been victims of ‘consensual validation’. Once a first few cites came up, > lazy writers who only do cursory research use those citations as validation > of the statement as a fact and publish them. Additional such publications > only strengthen the false validation process.**** > > ** ** > > What’s so surprising is that the Snopes article was already up online in > 2002, so the case has been researched and classified as urban legend for at > least a decade. Yet it continues to be mentioned frequently as a brand > blunder.**** > > ** ** > > Tunga**** > > --**** > > Tunga Kiyak, Ph.D.**** > > Managing Director**** > > Academy of International Business (AIB)**** > > ** ** > > *From:* Blanco, R Ivan [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Friday, June 15, 2012 15:47 > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* [AIB-L] FW: [AIB-L] Perpetuating falsehoods: The Chevrolet > Nova sold poorly in Spanish-speaking countries because its name translates > as "doesn't go" in Spanish**** > > ** ** > > Romie,**** > > ** ** > > Finally someone writes about this myth! I have been saying the same for a > long time to my students in International Business and Cross-Cultural > Management because all textbooks use that as an example of blunders in > language, and the Nova thing became a classic which no one had questioned > before. I lived in Venezuela during the introduction of the Chevy Nova and > it was a very well accepted car in that market as mentioned in your e-mail. > I have said to my students and to anyone else willing to listen that in > Spanish speaking countries “nova” will be associated more with the word > “nuevo” (which means new), because the Latin root of “Nuevo” is pretty > close to “Nova.”**** > > ** ** > > Thanks for sharing!**** > > ** ** > > Ivan Blanco**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > **** > > ** ** > > *From:* Romie Littrell [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Thursday, June 14, 2012 3:35 PM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* [AIB-L] Perpetuating falsehoods: The Chevrolet Nova sold > poorly in Spanish-speaking countries because its name translates as > "doesn't go" in Spanish**** > > ** ** > > *A False Claim:* The Chevrolet Nova sold poorly in Spanish-speaking > countries because its name translates as "doesn't go" in Spanish. > > Summarised from: www.snopes.com, Urban Legends Reference Pages © > 1995-2012 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. > > I’m still seeing publications and comments with the incorrect and > misleading legend of “The Chevrolet Nova sold poorly in Spanish-speaking > countries because its name translates as "doesn't go" in Spanish. I become > increasingly concerned about the diligence and responsibility of authors of > textbooks and articles. As snopes.com points out, the ‘Chevy Nova legend > lives on in countless marketing textbooks, is repeated in numerous business > seminars, and is a staple of newspaper and magazine columnists who need a > pithy example of human folly. Perhaps someday this apocryphal tale will > become what it should be: an illustration of how easily even "experts" can > sometimes fall victim to the very same dangers they warn us about.’ > > Part of the fiction is that GM executives were baffled until someone > finally pointed out to them that "nova" translates as "doesn't go" in > Spanish. The embarrassed automobile giant changed the model name to the > Caribe, and sales of the car took off. Actually Caribe is a Volkwagen > model, not a Chevy. The truth is that the Chevrolet Nova's name didn't > significantly affect its sales: it sold well in both its major > Spanish-language markets, Mexico and Venezuela. (Its Venezuelan sales > figures actually surpassed GM's expectations.) > > From snopes.com: The original Chevrolet Nova (initially the Chevy II) hit > the U.S. market in 1962. (This car should not be confused with the smaller, > front wheel drive vehicle which was produced in 1985 as a joint venture > between General Motors and Toyota and also assigned the Nova name.) Between > 1972 and 1978 the Chevrolet Nova was also sold in Mexico and several other > Spanish-speaking countries, primarily Venezuela. Shortly afterwards the > great "Nova" legend arose, a legend which a little linguistic analysis > shows it to be improbable: > > First of all, the phrase "no va" (literally "doesn't go") and the word > "nova" are distinct entities with different pronunciations in Spanish: the > former is two words and is pronounced with the accent on the second word; > the latter is one word with the accent on the first syllable. Assuming that > Spanish speakers would naturally see the word "nova" as equivalent to the > phrase "no va" and think "Hey, this car doesn't go!" is akin to assuming > that English speakers would spurn a dinette set sold under the name * > Notable* because nobody wants a dinette set that doesn't include a table. > > Although "no va" can be literally translated as "no go," it would be a > curious locution for a speaker of Spanish to use in reference to a car. > Just as an English speaker would describe a broken-down car by saying that > it "doesn't run" rather than it "doesn't go," so a Spanish speaker would > refer to a malfunctioning automobile by saying "no marcha" or "no funciona" > or "no camina" rather than "no va." > > Pemex (the Mexican government-owned oil monopoly) sold (and still sells) > gasoline in Mexico under the name "Nova." If Mexicans were going to > associate anything with the Chevrolet Nova based on its name, it would > probably be this gasoline. In any case, if Mexicans had no compunctions > about filling the tanks of their cars with a type of gasoline whose name > advertised that it "didn't go," why would they reject a similarly-named > automobile? > > This legend assumes that a handful of General Motors executives launched a > car into a foreign market and remained in blissful ignorance about a > possible adverse translation of its name. Even if nobody in Detroit knew > enough rudimentary Spanish to notice the coincidence, the Nova could not > have been brought to market in Mexico and/or South America without the > involvement of numerous Spanish speakers engaged to translate user manuals, > prepare advertising and promotional materials, communicate with the network > of Chevrolet dealers in the target countries, etc. In fact, GM was aware of > the translation and opted to retain the model name "Nova" in > Spanish-speaking markets anyway, because they (correctly) felt the matter > to be unimportant. > * > Additional information from snopes.com: > *http://www.novaresource.org/history.htm > Debunking several urban legends: Ricks, David A. *Blunders in > International Business<http://www.snopes.com/sources/business/blunders.htm> > *. Cambridge, U.S.A.: Blackwell, 1993. ISBN 1-55786-414-4 (p. 35). > > Romie Frederick Littrell, BA, MBA, PhD, FIAIR > Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand > IV. 1st stanza, War is Kind and Other Lines, Stephen Crane, 1899 > A little ink more or less! > It surely can't matter? > Even the sky and the opulent sea, > The plains and the hills, aloof, > Hear the uproar of all these books. > But it is only a little ink more or less.**** > > ____ > AIB-L is brought to you by the Academy of International Business. > For information: http://aib.msu.edu/community/aib-l.asp > To post message: [log in to unmask] > For assistance: [log in to unmask] > AIB-L is a moderated list.**** > -- Douglas Chun PhD Candidate University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business 2404 Maile Way Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 ____ AIB-L is brought to you by the Academy of International Business. For information: http://aib.msu.edu/community/aib-l.asp To post message: [log in to unmask] For assistance: [log in to unmask] AIB-L is a moderated list.