Business ...

BUSINESS CARD

When someone sees an acquaintance that they haven’t seen in some time the first question is usually “How have you been?” The second question usually varies. For ladies it’s usually “How’s the family?” For guys it’s usually “So what have you been up to?”

For guys it’s about accomplishments. We are asking “What have you done lately? Are you doing better than me? Can I brag or have you accomplished more than me?”

A business card says I have an identity. But sometimes it can backfire and send the wrong message.

Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick."

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with a beautiful Caucasian baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies prefer to put pictures on the label of what’s inside, since most people can’t read.

Pepsi’s "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese.

The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-la", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le", translating into "happiness in the mouth."

Business cards do not really identify people. They can mislead you. Anyone can purchase them to relay any message they want. As a follower of Jesus your business card is your actions.

From a sermon by Larry Turner, What’s In Your Spiritual Wallet, 6/2/2012