This Is Sort of a Translation Problem

So, Vitamin Water decided to run a contest in Canada that included random words under the bottle cap—one in English and one in French. Supposedly Coca-Cola reviewed all the words in the contest, but seemed to miss out on a few crucial words that mean one thing in French and another in English . . . From Huffington Post Alberta:

Blake Loates was shocked to find the words “YOU RETARD” printed inside the cap of a Vitamin Water bottle while out for dinner with her husband Tuesday night.

“We immediately thought ‘You have got to be kidding me,’” she told the Huffington Post Alberta.

“We thought it might have been a disgruntled employee or someone in a (bottling) plant playing a joke.”

Her father, Doug, was equally shocked at the message, considering his younger daughter Fiona has cerebral palsy and autism. [. . .]

Retard in French translates to “late” or “delayed.”

“Coke told us they reviewed the words before the contest, so we’re still a bit confused about why, after sitting down and looking at the word list, they would decide to keep it. It’s English meaning is offensive and they should have realized that,” said Blake.