Friday, January 25, 2008

Advertising adaptation – and the winner is….? / Un coup publicitaire magistral


A recent trip to Vancouver took me to Grouse Mountain, a skiing spot just 30 minutes north of Vancouver. After taking in the chilly air (it was –7° C at the altitude of 1400 metres), I decided to have a snack. Here is a picture of it:

Excellent example of creative adaptation. The name of the English produit is Milk 2 Go which, to my mind, plays on the fact that this drink can be had anywhere. The French version, cunningly, plays on the similarity of the sounds Lait (milk in French) and Let’s go – an English admonition. It is the French spelling that gives away the generic name of the product (Lait), as the Canadian Consumer Labelling Act requires.

Plus je regardais l’adaptation française plus j’étais littéralement épaté par la créativité de l’expression. Je dirais même que l’appellation française est plus réussie que l’anglaise tout en respectant l’anglais, la langue dans le vent à travers le monde.

I can testify to the fact that the milk was extremely thirst quenching and the chili con carne hot and spicy. A very filling snack.



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