From Peugeot to Marlboro, brands around the world are grappling with an unusual challenge: getting people to say their name correctly.
Whether it’s high-fashion handbags or muscle cars, international customers often find it difficult to pronounce many of the world’s most popular brands.
Business Financing analysts analyzed data from Forvo, an online pronunciation dictionary, to see which brands had the most listens.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is French brands that take the top spot among the world’s least pronounceable companies.
The French Société Générale is the most mispronounced brand in the world: it has been listened to 2.1 million times.
Business Financing analysts analyzed data from Forvo, an online pronunciation dictionary, to see which brands had the most listens.
From Peugeot (pictured) to Marlboro, brands around the world are struggling with an unusual challenge: getting people to say their name correctly.
France has the dubious honor of being home to four of the 10 least pronounceable brands in the world.
Peugeot came in second with 1.7 million listens on Forvo, more than double that of Porsche in third place.
Meanwhile, Citroën came in seventh place with 443,000 listens, while Louis Vuitton was the 10th least pronounceable brand, with 412,000 listens.
In the UK, the least pronounceable brand (at least among English speakers) was Burberry.
The clothing brand was listened to 141,000 times by those looking to get the perfect British pronunciation.
Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden’s Ikea also ranks high as one of the least pronounceable brands with 561,000 listens.
In fact, there’s a good chance you mispronounced this one too.
While most Brits would pronounce furniture store with some variation of ‘Eye-key-ah’, the actual Swedish pronunciation sounds more like ‘Ee-kay-uh’.
In the world of food and drink, alcohol brands turn out to be the hardest to tell before you’ve even tried some of their products.
Sweden’s Ikea also ranks high as one of the least pronounceable brands with 561,000 listens.
Germany’s least pronounceable brand might come as a surprise, with BMW taking the top spot.
Despite having only three letters, the car brand’s name was heard 467,000 times.
Outside of Europe, the American brand with the worst pronunciation was Tommy Hilfiger, which received almost 600,000 listens.
The name is so often confused that Tommy Hilfiger himself reportedly considered naming the brand Tommy Hill to make it easier for customers.
In Asia, the least pronounceable brand on the continent was Hitachi, which was listened to 303,000 times.
France has the dubious honor of being home to four of the 10 least pronounceable brands in the world.
In Asia, the least pronounceable brand on the continent was Hitachi, which was listened to 303,000 times.
To understand this well, it’s worth remembering that Hitachi is actually made up of two different Japanese kanji characters: “hi”, which means sun, and “tachi”, which means sunrise.
The name should sound more like “Hit Archie” with extra emphasis on the first syllable.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korean brand Samsung also generated its fair share of confusion, with people checking the pronunciation 302,000 times.
In the world of food and drink, alcohol brands turn out to be the hardest to tell before you’ve even tried some of their products.
The German Jagermeister was the most difficult with 256,000 listens.
Budweiser was the most difficult US brand to pronounce, with 128,000 listens, while in the UK, Chivas Regal was the most difficult with 56,000 listens.
And in fashion, while Tommy Hilfiger claims the top spot, French brands are once again proving especially difficult.
Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Givenchy, Balenciaga and Chloe made the top 10 least pronounceable fashion brands.