Coca-Cola is currently a victim of that situation for naming a can of drink after the female sex organ without knowing that was the meaning of the South African word.
It follows a common ad campaign the company is currently running which encourages sharing by writing the name of a person on a coke bottle with the words, “share a coke with… (person’s name)”.
However, a bottle of their drink spotted in South Africa bears the writing, “Share a Coke with Xitombo”, meaning “share a Coke with Vagina” in that country.
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A photo of the said drink with the controversial inscription went viral online with calls from social media user on the company to rectify the error.
As the backlash kept hitting the company, Coca-Cola thought it wise to respond, saying it was “very disappointed that the controls we put in place could be taken advantage of in this manner.”
It said in a statement: “The main element of the campaign was to place approximately 700 of South Africa’s most popular names on Coca-Cola cans and bottles, which were sold in stores.
“These names were identified in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs and Stats SA.
“The names spread across the 11 official languages and were sent to two professional linguists for phonetic treatment, reviewed by various internal approval teams and finally printed, distributed and sold in the market.
“The Xitsonga word that led to this incident was not one of these names identified by the Department of Home Affairs, nor was the can marketed or sold by Coca-Cola.”
Basically, Coca-Cola says the problem must have arisen from abuse of a digital activation element of the campaign which empowered customers to personalise their own Coke bottle.
It is not clear if this explanation has appeased the unhappy South Africans.