We were told an example of this at the university, but unfortunately I can't remember the company in question. Anyway, the story goes that an
American or
European pharmaceutical company wanted to enter an
Arabic market with
pain-killers. They made a "cartoon strip"
ad, probably for the same reason
zav200 mentions;
illiteracy. This cartoon showed three images from left to right:
1) a woman with a
headache
2) the woman taking a
pill
3) the woman being happy
What they failed to realize, is that in Arabic you read from right to left...