University of Sunderland MAC301: Media Studies 2 / Advertising and TV Christof Elben Student ID: 119000988

Anglicism in international adverts: English slogans or vocabulary in advertisements all over the world.

Outline
1. Introduction 1.1 Definition 1.2 Issue 2. Cases of Anglicism in international commercials 2.1 Lufthansa 2.2 Kit Kat 2.3 1&1 (German internet provider) 3. Limits for the usage of Anglicisms in commercials 4. Conclusion 5. References 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 7

1. Introduction
1.1 Definition Every language develops and changes, every single language borrowed words from other languages []. Developments, changes and borrowings are important so the language can always respond to new challenges. English is one of the worlds most important languages; as such many other languages borrow words from the English language. This borrowing is called Anglicism (Bartzsch et al. 2007). According to Merriam-Webster online (2011), it can be defined as followed: An Anglicism is a characteristic feature of English occurring in another language. 1.2 Issue Have a break! This slogan immediately reminds us of the chocolate confection Kit Kat. The slogan is not only used in the United Kingdom, where Kit Kat was invented, or in other English-speaking countries, but it also stands for the Brand in Germany, Italy and even in Japan this slogan is used in the Kit Kat-commercials. There are many examples of international commercials, which use English slogans or at least English vocabulary. The question now begs as to why Anglicism is used in foreign commercials with increasing frequency, and if there are limits for the usage of Anglicism in international commercials.

2. Cases of Anglicism in international commercials

Whole slogans or a single word, the English language in international commercials is used in many forms. As the following examples show, the reasons for this usage vary. In the next paragraphs some popular commercials will be introduced and analysed on how English is used and which intention it has. 2.1 Lufthansa In 2004 Lufthansa launched a new campaign with the slogan There is no better way to fly. This print- and TV-campaign was not meant for one special product of the airline, but its purpose was to be an image-campaign. The print commercials show photographs of satisfied people or a happy child watching a plane. In the TV-campaign, they show a series of sequences of professional employees. Happy people and faithful pictures are drawn together. The music theme is also upbeat and inviting. The print commercials only contain the earlier described photos, the brand logo and the slogan There is no better way to fly. In Illustration 1, the little boy paints a heart on a steamy window. In the background you can see an airplane. Pictures of hearts always connote love and happiness. On this illustration the heart on the steamy window lies directly on the Lufthansa logo on the plane. This is the attempt to connect the heart or the connotation of love to the brand Lufthansa. The fact, that there is no other sentence on the commercial besides the main slogan, shows that the picture should stand for itself. The TV-commercial on the other hand shows many images that are often linked with aeronautics but also images that usually are not linked to that theme. Only the last frames in the commercial show the English slogan, to conclude there is no better way to fly. According to Kathrin Flter from Lufthansa Miles & More, these pictures are used to emotionalise the brand. Lufthansa underlines its values, quality, reliability, innovation and differentiation. The English sentence is used because the German brand Lufthansa always aspires for more internationality and this English slogan conveys the impression of internationality. (Durand 2006) 2.2 Kit Kat As already mentioned, the Have a break! slogan is used all over the world and in most countries, the brands communication is built on this slogan. The reason is the globalization of markets and commerce. Why should a brand not try to operate with the same brand design, same colours and same slogans globally? The brand can be recognised everywhere and a company can also reduce costs, acting like this. (White 2000) The Production of a major TV commercial costs approximately 300.000 or even more. If a company can produce only one commercial for multiple countries, large sums can be saved. (White 2000)

In Japan for instance the text on the website is Japanese, but the slogan is written in English. In Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom or Australia, it is the same. Surprisingly, in Spain the slogan is not used, instead a Spanish slogan is used. In Spain but also in Italy and especially in France, commercials tend to be more often in the native tongue than for example in Germany. In France the Toubon Law is the reason for the few English adverts. The Toubon law restricts the usage of English in the French language use (Hallows 2008). According to Toubon Law, Nestl is not allowed to use the English Kit Kat slogan on the French website, unless they include a French translation in the small print. 2.3 1&1 (German internet provider) Another phenomenon is the utilisation of single English words in sentences of foreign languages. This development is due to the globalization and especially due to the fast evolution of computers and the Internet. Many new things were invented and words like hotline, modem or Ethernet just appeared without a German translation. These new English words became popular very fast and the described usage of English words in German sentences is now quite common in Germany. People go shopping, companies have to be serviceorientiert which means service-oriented and the Germans call a hotline when they need help. In the commercial of 1&1 you can see Marcell Davis, who is the head of the customer satisfaction department of the enterprise. In the advertising spot he talks about achievements of his company like the introduction of free WLAN (WiFi) and the launch of the Flatrate with unlimited Internet usage. After these accomplishments he talks about the latest innovation of 1&1, which is he himself as the head of the customer satisfaction department. (1&1 Internet 2009) Together with the launch of the commercial, 1&1 started a customer satisfaction offensive. They introduced a free hotline, service charges were abandoned and the online support got improved. The campaign was supposed to promote new customer friendliness as many German internet providers have a big image problem when it comes to service and support. The English words in the commercial are used because they are more common in Germany than corresponding German words.

3. Limits for the usage of Anglicisms in commercials

As already shown, Anglicisms are very popular in many languages. But there are also limits for the usage of these Anglicisms in commercials. If for example an English company tries to place a commercial in Germany, which might have been very popular in Great Britain, this doesnt have to be successful by all manners. There are cultural variations in every country, therefore a good advertising copy is not about simply translating the words; it is about encoding the right concepts, and those concepts may well vary from culture to 5

culture.(Goddard 1998) Another problem is that sometimes people in other countries have different associations of a certain word or in this special case a certain brand name. (Goddard 1998) Looking at this area can illustrate how powerful the operation of connotation is. (Goddard 1998). The Rolls Royce Silver Shadows predetermined name was for example Silver Mist. In Germany the word Mist means rubbish or dirt, reason enough to change the name. (Goddard 1998) Many of the known brand name faults can be found in the automobile industry. Ford Pinto translated as a slang word means tiny male genitals in Brazil. As a matter of fact, usually slang does not stand in a dictionary, nor are connotations in general, as dictionary definitions tend to base themselves on denotation (Goddard 1998). Another problem is the sound symbolism of certain words. The word Coca Cola resembles another spoken expression in China, which means, bite the wax tadpole. Vauxhall Nova resembles the Spanish words no va which translated means wont go (Goddard 1998). As mentioned in paragraph 2.2, beside these natural limits, there are also legal restrictions for the usage of Anglicisms in commercials. In 1994, France enacted the Toubon law with far-reaching restrictions for the usage of English language, not only for advertisements (Hallows 2008).

4. Conclusion
A countrys native language will probably always be the most important language in its adverts, nevertheless English becomes more and more important. One of the main reasons for this development is the globalization and the ability to save costs for the production of the adverts. Another reason is the fact, that there are simply no other words to describe certain things, or the English words are more familiar. Again, this is caused by globalization but also because of the quick development of technical innovations. On the other side, there are also restrictions for English in foreign adverts. Besides legal reasons, different cultural conditions can be named as reasons for these limits.

5. References
1&1 Internet (2009). Der neue Leiter Kundenzufriedenheit bei 1&1 - Marcell D'Avis (Video). [online]. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/user/1and1PressOffice#p/a/u/0/iranKTRu86E [16 March 2011]. Bartzsch, R.; Schrder, M.; Pogarell, R. (2007). Wrterbuch berflssiger Anglizismen. 7th ed. Paderborn: Ifb Verlag. Durand, U. (2006). Vielfalt fr Vielflieger: Kundenbindung durch Miles & More. [online]. Informationsdienst Wissenschaft. Available from: http://www.idw-online.de/de/news149882 [16 March 2011]. Goddard, A. (1998). The Language of Advertising. London: Routledge, pp. 80-84. Hallows, N. (2008). Au revoir Mister Franglais. [online]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7221918.stm [16 March 2011]. MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE (2011). anglicism. [online]. Available from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anglicism?show=0&t=1300296942 [16 March 2011]. White, R. (2000). Advertising. 4th ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill, pp. 265-266.