Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Apparently, one ton of Kit-kats are sold through various retail outlets within Dubai Airport every day. Who buys them, and how come in such quantities?:huh:

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

The KitKat in England tastes different from the one here in the US.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

They sell wasabi kitkats in japan

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

The ones on sale in the Middle East used to be made in Singapore, and they tasted, well, a bit odd.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

They're different so they don't melt as easily. Or so the wrapper of the one I ate in Singapore this weekend said.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Thorntons is closing today in th UK!

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

what, completely...? that's terrible news if so...

MM, xx

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

I never could get the business case for Thorntons: incredibly expensive shop spaces, but selling greeting cards (ok, ridiculous mark-up, but even so), and 5-10 quid boxes of chocolates.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

oh, the stores i've been in have all been tiny...with gorgeous chocolates and toffees (and ice cream), never saw cards on sale there though!

MM, xx

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Ah. Only ever been into the one in Ilkley--maybe its a joint franchise with a card shop, thought they were all the same. Don't know if that one's closing, but its quite a big shop and the rent's got to be substantial.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Thorntons on Tuesday confirmed it would close a minimum of 120 stores over the next three years “taking advantage of [its] lease expiry profile” after a strategic review of the struggling business concluded it could only sustain a reduced portfolio of between 180 and 200 stores


from FT.com

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

:eek: surely not!

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Can't stand Thorntons- YUCK!- awful chocolate ( not a phrase I use very often either).

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

What's in a name?

The Mitsubishi Pajero had to be renamed, for its entry into Europe (Mitsubishi Shogun) As 'Pajero' means something rather offensive in Spanish!

Apparently the same applied the the Rolls Royce Silver Mist! - The Germans didn't like that one!

KKK is a chain of Coffee Shops in The Philippines. Apart from the name, they appear to be doing quite well!

The Vauxhall Nova was renamed as an (Opel) Corsa, as in Spanish 'Nova' means 'Broken!'

Hyundai did not make many inroads into the Russian Market with their Taracan Model. 'Tarakan' in Russian means Cockroach!

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

In France, the Toyota MR2 was merely the MR. The "Toyota Sh*t" apparently didn't seem to have much sales impact as a name.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Quel domage, Toyota est merde!

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

FWIW, MR2 stands for Mid-engined Rear-wheel drive 2 seater.

I don't think anyone ever got to the bottom of the Colt Starion, which I'm convinced is a mis-spelling of Stallion. I think the official line was that Starion had some stellar conotation, but I don't buy that. You only have to look at this site to see some of the bizarre Jinglish that Japanese corporations come up with.

http://www.engrish.com/category/signs/page/19/

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Dunno about the others, but this isn't true. The Nova in the UK was a rebadge of the already-existing Opel Corsa.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

It's all here: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/starion.asp

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

I'm addicted to this site, and this has got to be the best-ever election poster:

http://www.engrish.com/category/signs/page/43/

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Not! They are cutting back on retail outlets though. Have you ever been in a Thorntons Cafe? They are fabulous and you get a free chocolate with your coffee:)

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Mmmmm but for not much longer!

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Until a few years ago the control of motorway traffic cameras was the responsibility of each counties' police force (each force being responsible for the streches of motorway in its county), which was an inefficient way of doing things. This was transitioned to 5 Central Control Rooms, under the control of the Highways Agency who had overall responsibility for the transition as well; each CCR would be able to see any motorway traffic camera in the country.

The transition was phased, with the M27 being the first stretch of motorway to have the new design of cameras, and the first CCR was opened in the vicinity.

In their infinite wisdom the HA termed the initial phases of the transition as the Intermediate Solution, with the final phase (everything linking up with everything else) as the Final Solution. Nobody I met in the HA during the transition phase (and there were some bright bods) seem to have any inkling of the other use of that phrase.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

The Motorway Police in the early Seventies, when issued with V6 Ford Transits, in their infinite wisdom, wanted to call them Fast Action Response Transits. A tad unfortunate, as the initials read...

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

hahaha, reminds me of the story about the naming of shell's offshore oil fields in the uk...they were going to be named alphabetically, auk, buk etc...until someone realised there would be a problem when they got to f...so they then changed their mind and said they were naming them after birds...

MM, xx

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

Ah yes............ engrish.com

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

KKK or Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng̃ mg̃á Anak ng̃ Bayan which translates as Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Children of the Nation - a group who started the revolution in the Philippines. I remember explaining to a Filipino how KKK means something quite different outside the Philippines to his amusement.

N.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

GEC and Plessey Telecoms launched a JV in France as GPT to much amusement (Sounds like "j'ai pété" which means "I've just farted")

Powergen also had a cock up (literally...) in Italy, like many companies they tried appending "Italia" to their name.

Re: Curious fact from the world of marketing..
 

The University of Northumbria in Newcastle used to be Newcastle Poly until about 1991 or 2. When they were deciding how to name themselves upon being awarded University status, one idea mooted was The City University of Newcastle upon Tyne.