Sometimes it is with the very best and most innocent of intentions that the most moronic things happen in this world. And it’s not just the average Jacks of the world that come up with brain dead schemes, especially when it comes to marketing.

We’ve heard so many stories of the inadvertent faux pas caused by the differences in language and culture, and the translation goofs by advertising geniuses. Here are just a couple for your amusement, including one from today’s news:

♦  We all know the Colonel here in the States, and the goodness that is Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Mashed potatoes, cole slaw, biscuits and fried chicken are close to divine.   Seems “finger licking good” doesn’t travel well, though, or translate smoothly into the Chinese market, where the slogan came out as  “eat your fingers off.”

♦  How about Coke? Well, not so good there, either. The Chinese translation initially went with “ke-kou-ke-la” because when spoken in Chinese it sounded close to “coca cola.” However, Coke was a little embarassed to learn that the phrase means “bite the wax tadpole.” They learned this, too, after printing thousands of signs.

Chagrined, but with a market the size of China to pursue, Coke persevered.   After reviewing tens of thousands of Chinese characters, it came up with “ko-kou-ko-le.” This translated better into “happiness in the mouth.”

Today’s news brought us another story of advertising misjudgment. This time, it’s from Disney, a company with a certain image to uphold and maintain, one that supports clean and family-friendly entertainment and amusement. Those of my age bracket remember growing up in the ’50s and ’60s to the Disney show every Sunday night, and the Mickey Mouse Club show every afternoon at 3:00. We also, those of us men, remember the crushes we all had on Annette on the Mickey Mouse Club show. These shows were certainly family- and kid-friendly.

Well, someone at Disney came up with a new branded product, a line of panties for young girls. The panties were themed for a swimming pool scene from the Disney Channel hit movie,”High School Musical 2.” Sounds okay so far. The scene from the show that was depicted on the panties involved the main characters singing of their love for each other as they circled a swimming pool. Again, sounds okay so far.

The problem was with the text on the panties, which invited the reader to “Dive In.” Oops. The news does not report the fate of the person who came up with this idea, or the higher ups who gave the green light to the product.

Thankfully, though, they were not the same people who managed the Coke campaign in China. Imagine if the panties read “bite the wax tadpole,” or “happiness in the mouth.”

Let’s think things through, people. The best of intentions are not always enough.