Translating advertising copy is like painting the tip of an iceberg. One sees the words, but there is a lot behind the words that must be understood to transfer advertising from one culture to another. This paper demonstrates that consumer behaviour and the way consumers communicate are heavily dependent on their cultural values. For advertising, one important distinction is between low- and high-context communication, which can help understand that people categorize the world in different ways. Another important influence of culture is on consumers' needs, motives and emotions. Variations in interpersonal communication styles are reflected in advertising styles. Another idea which is expanded in the present paper is that the persuasive communication function of advertising is biased toward rational claims. This is the sort of style that can be translated, but translation does not necessarily render such advertising appropriate for other cultures.