Hooopsie. Da hat wohl vorher keiner dran gedacht: The slogan for Apple’s new iPhone 7 translates into “This is penis” in Hong Kong.
In Cantonese, “seven,” or 柒, is pronounced tsat, and is also slang for “penis.” The word isn’t particularly offensive. Instead, it is often used to describe a hilarious person or thing, or mock someone gently. Let’s say a friend slipped in public, or got a goofy haircut: you can say to him in Cantonese “You are so seven,” without hurting his feelings too much.
Or, you can take the literal meaning. That’s why “This is penis” or “Penis, is here” or “Exactly is penis” were not great choices for Apple’s Hong Kong marketing push.
Already, Hong Kongers are enjoying the gaffe. “Without a 3.5mm earbud jack, this is exactly penis,” one Hong Konger, who is apparently not happy with iPhone’s new design philosophy, commented under a Facebook post about the Chinese translations of the slogan that already has 39,000 reactions.
(via René)
Na, das ist doch äußerst passend