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Quiche Branding Gone Wrong: Petite Bites Means "Little Dicks" in French

Poor Nancy!Oh mon dieu. Petite bites means "little dicks." Leave it to a set of skilled brand developers to screw up and make all of our neighbors across the pond in France laugh hysterically at us. Those stupid Americans... they probably thought. Yep. Right they are. Because much to your...
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Poor Nancy!
Oh mon dieu. Petite bites means "little dicks."

Leave it to a set of skilled brand developers to screw up and make all of our neighbors across the pond in France laugh hysterically at us.

Those stupid Americans... they probably thought.

Yep. Right they are. Because much to your likely surprise, this ad is for little quiches sold in the frozen food aisle at local grocery stores. It is not for a French penis enlargement drug and not for a new "small is in" campaign in France.

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We came across this hilarious case of lost in translation while recently Skyping with a French-Canadian friend currently living in Brussels.

He told us the ad is all the rage not only in France but in French-speaking countries all over Europe. He pointed out that not only does the literal translation mean "little dicks [big compliments]" in French slang but that the plural grammar was also incorrect.

And, yes, you could argue that in English, "petite bites" just means "petite bites." But where's the fun in that?!

Since the big oops in 2010, the name has been changed to Petite Quiche, and that's how the product is currently labeled on boxes and the website.

The brand, Nancy's, was started by a San Francisco woman who had too many house parties to host and not enough time to worry about food for all of them. The line also carries little cheesecakes, deli spirals, and assorted hors d'oeuvres.

We checked, and Publix, Costco, and Target all carry Nancy's petite bites. Luckily, they come in a variety of quantities (12 count up to 72 count) in the event that one serving doesn't fill you up. Ba dum tss!

Follow Alex on Twitter @ARodWrites.



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