Come alive with Pepsi, urban myth?

[johnlambert]

I remember reading in the 1970's that they had to change the words on the Pepsi cola advert in China because people were pouring it on their families graves because when the words "come alive with Pepsi" is translated into Cantonese it was translated as "Pepsi brings youe ancestors back from the dead" is this an urban myth or did hundreds of Chinese folk really pour Pepsi over graves?
TIA

[Thunderbird+]

I remember reading that or something similar too, way back in the foggy 70's
The way I remember it was:- the pepsi slogan litrally translated into Japanese said 'Drink pepsi and meet your ancestors'.

Sorry it's not an answer

[kempie]

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/ancest or.asp

[jno]

basically it's pretty hard to believe... Chinese aren't dumb. The mistranslation is possible, but if even Snopes hasn't tracked it down then it just has to sit in the Maybe file.

[johnlambert]

Perhaps not dumb jno superstisious (sp)? definatly, uneducated perhaps, and if someone who could read explained what the advert said then perhaps there may be a ring of truth

[jno]

well, they have a pretty ancient tradition of ancestor worship. I'd be very surprised if some modern marketing men - deliberately or otherwise - could suddenly overturn centuries of belief by persuading peasants that a bottle of Pepsi would actually bring them back from the dead. It doesn't really ring true, imho