Fans have spotted a difference between the French original and the Portuguese translation of Asterix in Lusitania. The “horse station” where Asterix and Obelix have to refresh their horses carries a different name in the Portuguese version. Where in all the other translations I have seen so far the brand name is Essāo, in the Portuguese album the name is Proto Galp.

I am familiar with the brandname Esso (In the US renamed to Exxon), but had to ask chatgpt what Proto Galp could be. Chatgpt came up with the following answer:

It’s a humorous reference to Galp Energia, a major Portuguese oil and gas company — the equivalent of Esso or Shell in Portugal. The prefix “Proto-” (meaning “early” or “primitive”) keeps the historical joke intact, as if it were a “prehistoric” version of Galp — a clever adaptation of the Esso joke for Portuguese readers.

A double check gave me several photo’s of gasstations in Portugal carrying the GALP name and logo.

Helvetica

Something similar happened in Asterix in Switzerland. When Asterix and Obelix had to stop along the way, the servicestation changed mascots depending on which translation you had. In the original French albums and most if not all other translations you could spot the Antar mascotte, but in the English translation he was replace by the Michelin man.