Tonight at dinner we learned a lot about advertising in Germany from Irene and Christoph. English represents new and modern, so many terms are adopted - whether or not they are appropriate or understood. For example a carry-all for young girls is marketed as a "body bag". And during the world cup they attended many "Public Viewings" - places where the game was projected onto a large screen for the benefit of the public. My favorite is a cosmetic and perfume shop whose slogan is "Come in and find out".When they checked to see what people's understanding of this slogan is, they found that people translate it as "Come in and try to find the exit".
Oh, for the public viewing they use a Beamer - that's a projector. And the common term for a cell phone is a "handy".
Hi Jean! We were just talking about you today (I have an advertisement that Thea thought had your name all over it, I will e-mail you a scan) and it reminded me to check out your blog; previously every time I remembered I forgot by the time I got back to a computer.
ReplyDeleteIt was great catching up with what you've been up to, thanks! Now that I have a link I will remember to check regularly.