Cultural awareness has never been more essential than in today’s global marketplace as H&M, the Swedish fashion giants, recently discovered.
According to an article in the Evening Standard online H&M have withdrawn a range of socks due to complaints that the pattern on them bore a resemblance to the word Allah in Arabic.
The offending socks depict a Lego workman holding a jackhammer, but some customers criticised the product after noticing that the image resembled the Arabic inscription for the word ‘Allah’ when the socks were upside down.
H&M have apologised for the error, insisting it was completely “coincidental”, and was not meant to cause offence to anyone.
It is not the first time that the fashion company has caused controversy with its clothing; a few weeks ago it ran an advert with a black child model wearing a hoodie with the words “Coolest monkey in the jungle” on the front. The advert caused global repercussions and branded H&M as “racist” and “offensive” by many. However, this withdrawn product is now said to be reaching prices of up to £1400 on the online bidding site EBay.
Once again H&M were forced to apologise to offended customers for their faux pas, withdrawing the image from their website.
H&M aren’t the only global company that show a lack of cultural awareness and localisation mindfulness.
Nike had to recall thousands of products when a decoration on the back of shoes (intended to resemble fire) looked like the Arabic word for Allah.
And some translation blunders can be even more inept; The American Dairy Association translated its “Got Milk?” campaign in Spanish-speaking countries into “Are You Lactating?” While Pepsi’s slogan “Pepsi Brings You Back to Life” was initially translated in China as “Pepsi Brings You Back from the Grave.”
A global marketplace, and mixed cultures within a country, can lead to unintentional embarrassment, lack of sales, and product withdrawal for businesses that fail to ascertain the effect their marketing campaigns will have on all cross-sections of the community.
Appropriate localisation and correct translations should always be sought before releasing a marketing campaign, new product, or design. The backlash, if not checked prior to release, can be catastrophic for business.
