IKEA Assembles Team to Fight Sexy Product Names
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PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Swedish furniture manufacturer IKEA has been forced to hire a group of experts who speak Thai, after a series of its Scandinavian-sounding products were misinterpreted when the store opened in Thailand.
The Wall Street Journal reports, for example, “Redalen,” which is both a town in Norway and a bed sold by the company, also sounds like getting to “third base” in the Thai language. Other examples include “Jättebra,” which is what the company dubbed a plant pot — though it also means a crude sexual act to the ears of folks in Bangkok.
To play it safe, the experts hired by the company are simplifying the Swedish names, and changing certain words to steer clear of anything untoward.
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