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Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{Examples Need Sorting}}
[[File:sockobama-thumb-400x505.jpg|frame|The Obama Sock Monkey: Popular in Japan. Considered racist in America. Adorable everywhere.]]
A
▲A [[Cross Cultural Kerfluffle]] is sort of meeting between a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]] and [[Values Dissonance]]. It's different from [[Values Dissonance]] in that it isn't a case of different cultural values which makes for the potential wince, but rather when an accidental reference to something negative and well known in one country or culture is made unknowingly by a program from another.
One of the most famous examples could be the [[No Swastikas|swastika]] - in Buddhist countries it's a benevolent symbol of the sun. In the West... not so much.
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See also: [[Culture Clash]], [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]], [[Values Dissonance]].
{{examples}}
==Amusing ==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si-lSLv9b4E This Japanese mobile phone ad] depicts an Obama rally with red 'Change' signs and the company's mascot, a monkey, on the podium. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|And that's all that needs to be said about this.]]▼
** In a similar vein, a German frozen food company launched a product named after Barack Obama following the 2008 elections. The actual food item being named after the new President? [http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,612684,00.html Fried chicken.]▼
* Recently an [https://web.archive.org/web/20100109121014/http://www.news.com.au/national/australian-kfc-ad-labelled-racist-by-us-commentators/story-e6frfkvr-1225816754881 Australian KFC ad] caused a bit of a kerfluffle in the United States. It showed an awkward white Australian fan surrounded by hundreds of cheering black West Indies fans (who were the upcoming opposition) before he offered them all fried chicken. The ad was from a series of "cricket survival guide" ads showing the Australian solving various problems with KFC so he could enjoy the cricket. So the Australian train of thought was simple - being surrounded by supporters of the opposing team is awkward, [[Tastes Like Friendship|offer KFC, everyone has a good time]]. When the ad was leaked internationally, American commentators saw a white guy placating scary black people with fried chicken, and called racism. This confused the Australians, since the "black people like fried chicken" stereotype is not widespread there.▼
* Australia's "[[wikipedia:Where the bloody hell are you|So where the bloody hell are you?]]" tourism campaign. The British did not like the word "bloody". The Canadians did not like the word "hell". The Singaporeans did not like either. Overlaps with [[Did Not Do the Bloody Research]], as "bloody hell" is a fairly mild oath in Australia.▼
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===▼
▲== [[Anime]] ==
* The Hyuga branch line curse mark in ''[[Naruto]]'' was changed from a ''manji'' (or swastika in Sanskrit, and consequently in Buddhist scriptures) to an "x" because the former [[No Swastikas|Nazi connection]]; it stayed in the English manga, however.
* Similarly, this happened in ''[[One Piece]]''. Whitebeard's flag originally had swastika-like crossbones, but was changed from that chapter-on-out to be more like a plus sign.
* Kaede's [[Instant Fanclub]] in ''[[
* [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s 1986 film ''
** Swift used the name as a [[Shout-Out]] to a comment from Martin Luther referring to Reason as a "whore" (in the sense that one can manipulate logic to reach a desired conclusion).
** For the same reason, this is why "Laputa" is the [[Freud Was Right|target to be bombed]] in ''[[Doctor Strangelove]]''.
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* In [[Bleach]] the hilt of the sword of the protagonist in its bankai (upgraded) mode is the character manji, which as stated in the Naruto example above, is a swastika
* During the first [[Tournament Arc]] of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', Urameshi fights a ninja with a shaven head and a ''manji'' tattoed on his forehead. Since the Manji, as mentioned above, bears a strong resemblance to the Swastika, the first thing a western audience would think of him is 'Skinhead Neo-Nazi'.
* ''[[Darker
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* [[Marvel Universe|Marvel's]] [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/schutzheiligruppe.htm Schutz Heiliggruppe]. Sure, the intention (portraying superheroes from [[The Berlin Republic|modern Germany]], [[Must Make Amends|who hunt down Nazi war criminals]]) is laudable, but the execution... Oh boy!
** Let's start with the group's name itself. It is supposed to mean ''Group of Protecting Saints'', but actually translates to ''Protection Holy-Group''. (The intended figurative meaning was ''League of Guardian Angels'', which would in German be ''Liga der Schutzengel''. The translation published in Germany simply went with ''Helden-Liga'' --> ''Hero League''.) Granted, [[Gratuitous German]] is bad, but not really offensive. Perhaps they aimed for ''Schutzheiligen-Gruppe'', which would be ''Group of Patron Saints''; a bit closer, but still wrong.
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** The third member is ''Zeitgeist''. Nothing offensive here. (Phew!) Just maybe a bit unimaginative, considering that ''Zeitgeist'' (''Time Spirit'') happens to be [[Small Reference Pools|a quite well-known word among English native-speakers]].
==
▲* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si-lSLv9b4E This Japanese mobile phone ad] depicts an Obama rally with red 'Change' signs and the company's mascot, a monkey, on the podium. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|And that's all that needs to be said about this.]]
▲** In a similar vein, a German frozen food company launched a product named after Barack Obama following the 2008 elections. The actual food item being named after the new President? [http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,612684,00.html Fried chicken.]
▲* Recently an [http://www.news.com.au/national/australian-kfc-ad-labelled-racist-by-us-commentators/story-e6frfkvr-1225816754881 Australian KFC ad] caused a bit of a kerfluffle in the United States. It showed an awkward white Australian fan surrounded by hundreds of cheering black West Indies fans (who were the upcoming opposition) before he offered them all fried chicken. The ad was from a series of "cricket survival guide" ads showing the Australian solving various problems with KFC so he could enjoy the cricket. So the Australian train of thought was simple - being surrounded by supporters of the opposing team is awkward, [[Tastes Like Friendship|offer KFC, everyone has a good time]]. When the ad was leaked internationally, American commentators saw a white guy placating scary black people with fried chicken, and called racism. This confused the Australians, since the "black people like fried chicken" stereotype is not widespread there.
▲* Australia's "[[wikipedia:Where the bloody hell are you|So where the bloody hell are you?]]" tourism campaign. The British did not like the word "bloody". The Canadians did not like the word "hell". The Singaporeans did not like either. Overlaps with [[Did Not Do the Bloody Research]], as "bloody hell" is a fairly mild oath in Australia.
* A minor, comical example can be found in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. During the section explaining how scientists view of the Babel Fish has allowed for the final proof of the non-existence of God, it is said how one can then go on to prove black is white and promptly get run over at the next zebra crossing. In Britain and many other countries, black-and-white stripped "Zebra Crossings" are the equivalent of the (often yellow and consisting of two parallel line stretching from curb to opposite curb to walk between) American "Crosswalk". Americans, when reading the joke, usually imagine the term as an equivalent to a "Deer Crossing" (that is to say, a place where ''zebras'' cross) which makes for an equally humorous, though widely different joke.
** In at least one Swedish translation, [[Did Not Do the Research|"zebra crossing" was translated literally into "zebrakorsning"]] which has no connotations to traffic at all. It could be interpreted as "cross-breeding of zebras" which doesn't make much sense, or "crossing a zebra" (as in travelling across it) which makes even less sense.
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In [[Literature/The General|The General]], the Skinners (nomadic barbarians) refer to the main character as "half-man", which pisses of one of his subordinates. The main character takes his subordinate aside and explains that to the Skinners "half-man" is high praise of a non-Skinner. In the Skinner language, the words for Outsider and "not-man" are the same, as are the words for Skinner and "Real Man". By calling him "half-man", they are saying he's much better than almost all others.
=== [[Live
* ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' episodes "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? I & II" have a character who {{spoiler|chooses to switch fates with Sarah Jane, the fate? Drowning (or possibly from the impact from falling from a pier into the sea, it's not clear)}}. Her name was Andrea Yates, which is the same name as that of [[wikipedia:Andrea Yates|an American woman who drowned her own children]]. Several American fans winced and called this distasteful on the [[Outpost Gallifrey]] forums; but it was very unlikely intentional because the Andrea Yates case was hardly widely known in the UK.
* Reversing the countries (though it wouldn't have caused offence but laughter), the captain of the ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|USS Enterprise NX-01]]'' was almost called [[wikipedia:Jeffrey Archer|Jeffrey Archer]] until UK fans pointed out it wasn't quite the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|straight-arrow]] name they had in mind.
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'''Frank''': They knew what a [[Comic Sutra|"Hot Richard"]] was? }}
=== [[Music]] ===
* Rock singer [[Meat Loaf]] wanted to show a German audience that not only did he enjoy performing for them, but he enjoyed being a guest in their country. Since the only German he knew was limited to sausage related words, he decided to fly the red, black and gold at his concert. He didn't realize that Germans aren't as gung-ho about their flag as Americans are.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z2ChJDNI4RI This] Arab Israeli patriotic song is really infamous in Russian internet. It is called "Bladi" (Arabic for "my country"), which sounds like "whores" in Russian. The first words of the chorus - "Ya bladi, jawwek hadi, ma ahlaki, ya bladi"(O my country, your climate is soft, what is more beautiful than you, o my country?) - sounds rather close to "Where do whores live, yeah, the whores, the furry whores?" in Russian. The rest of the song sounds no better, what with misheard "Russian" lyrics someone provided. Given that around half of Israeli Jews are Russian-speaking, it's a wonder no one in audience burst into laughter.
=== [[New Media]] ===
==== Tropes Wikis ====
* At a live untelevised WWE show in Germany in 2004, John "Bradshaw" Layfield goose-stepped his way to the ring to try and get cheap heel heat from the crowd. It did more than that - many Germans didn't even like it as a kayfabe joke, especially because imitating the Nazis is actually illegal in Germany. The backlash led to Layfield getting fired from CNBC just weeks after they hired him from Fox News as a financial analyst.▼
▲== [[TV Tropes]] ==
* When someone, especially someone from the [[European Union|EU]], sees the term 'EU', it is usual for a pause before realising what is meant is [[Expanded Universe|EU]].
** Also, some people from Spanish-speaking countries may think you are referring to the United States (Estados Unidos), although the normal Spanish abbreviation for United States is EE.UU..
*** It also works in French-speaking areas, where the United States is ''les États-Unis'' (the accent is often dropped on capitals and/or when typed on English keyboards).
* Similarly any reference to "America" is confusing. Do you mean the USA, the North American continent or the South American continent?
* There's always some well-meaning [[Grammar Nazi]] wiki editors [[Separated by a Common Language|going back and forth on regional spellings of words]] here on the site, for instance Americans correcting "colour" to "color" and Brits switching it right back. Eventually they realize that on an international site like this either spelling is fine.
=== [[
▲* At a live untelevised WWE show in Germany in 2004, John "Bradshaw" Layfield goose-stepped his way to the ring to try and get cheap heel heat from the crowd. It did more than that - many Germans didn't even like it as a kayfabe joke, especially because imitating the Nazis is actually illegal in Germany. The backlash led to Layfield getting fired from CNBC just weeks after they hired him from Fox News as a financial analyst.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* The reaction to the ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'' trailer. A few people in the US found the depiction of Africans to hearken back to the more openly racist days when depictions of Africans and African-Americans as animalistic and barely human were rather common and accepted. Most importantly, they found the concept of a white American male shooting shambling, black Africans more than a bit distasteful.
* Another one in the "amusement, not offence" category: the online RPG ''Asda Story'', of banner ad fame, is liable to elicit giggles from UK residents. Especially if they've just returned from doing their shopping at [http://www.asda.co.uk/ Asda].
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** ''[[Pokémon]]'' canon had the debacle over [[Blackface|Jynx]].
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* The ''[[My Little Pony:
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* A zoo in Germany was so honored that President [[Barack Obama|Obama]] visited their town they named an animal after him - a monkey.
* In Japanese Sign Language, the syllable "se" is indicated by a [[Flipping the Bird|single raised middle finger]]. Pointed ''toward'' the signer in this case, but still.
* In 2013, Fukushima Industries launched a new mascot character, which in English they named with a portmanteau of "Fukushima" and "happy". Half a year later, they dropped the English name [[w:Fukuppy|Fukuppy]] for some reason...
== Offensive: [[Bite the Wax Tadpole]] ==
Cases where the translation or logo could have caused offense:
* The Mitsubishi Pajero, although named after an Argentinian mountain range, had to be renamed "Montero" in certain countries, as in some dialects of Spanish, this makes it the "Mitsubishi Wanker."
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** On that note, remember Reebok's [[Horny Devils|"Incubus"]] brand [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_19970220/ai_n10104158 running shoe for women]?
* The name of the Nintendo Wii caused a certain amount of amusement in the English-speaking world when it was first announced, but has since been accepted by the public.
** It remains a viable vein of comedy gold, as
* When ''[[Titanic]]'' was released, there was a good deal of snickering in Lebanon as the title, in its English pronunciation, sounds awfully close to "Come, let's fuck!" in the local dialect.
* Coon Cheese was named for the family that founded (and still owns) the company. They can trace their name back further than any racist usage.
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* The Chevrolet Nova was the butt of (good-natured) jokes in Spanish speaking countries, because "nova" can be easily transformed into "no va" ("doesn't go" or "doesn't work"). In the USA, this was exaggerated and became an [http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp urban legend] about the car having had terrible sales in Latin America, even though this wasn't the case.
* There is a light bulb manufacturer named Osram, which unfortunately means "I will shit [on something]" in Polish.
* As noted on the [[Bite the Wax Tadpole]] page, a German company released an [[
* English dialect case: [[wikipedia:Electrolux#Slogan|"Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."]] Though this bit of [[Double Entendre]] was intentional.
** [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MPVFXHtCKsA/Suy2jBU928I/AAAAAAAAAoc/fe50Kwah_f8/s400/FILE0905.JPG Similarly...]
* The American
** Something not at all lost on Americans who dislike the change, some of whom have taken to calling it the "Syphilis Channel".
* The webpages of a woman named [[wikipedia:Ziva Kunda|Ziva Kunda]] were popular amongst Czech and Slovak teenagers, as her name translates to "a living cunt".
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