10 Movie Titles With Ridiculous German Translations
4. The Spy Who Shagged Me
German Title: Austin Powers - Spion In Geheimer Missionarstellung
English Translation: Austin Powers - Spy On Secret Missionary Position
In this overt parody of the James Bond series you'll find countless cliches referring to the pop culture of the 60s' juxtaposed and crude humor that can be traced back to the trio responsible for making the Naked Gun (Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker) as the film's blueprint.
In many European countries, including Germany, the literal translation of "shagged" would've been too vulgar to air on adverts or any other promotional media for that matter. So in order to avoid a stir which could possibly arise from its sexual connotations, a misplaced ad or even worse yet, a flop (like its predecessor did in Germany), the producers decided to give the title a not so subtle makeover.
The titular treatment wasn't cheap either, as it is reported that New Line Studio invested about 40 million US-Dollar in marketing alone! But don't feel too sorry for them just yet because they recouped all of it back, mainly licensing agreements with various advertising partners such as Heineken to Virgin Atlantic.
So if you've ever wondered why Mike Myers' British agent persona prefers to drink a certain dutch beer or take flights in "Shaglantic", there's your answer!