It uses English but thinks in French, i.e uses French syntax, imagery, metaphors or cultural references.
A good example: a sign at Cointrin, Geneva Airport:
"We are actually not here"
We are submersed--my verb neologism, which means exactly what it sounds like-- in advertising. Immersed and submerged in, and subjugated by the world of ads. Seduction lurks at every turn.
Appeals to our esthetics, our self-love, our appetites, our fascination with technology we can possess, our craving for elegance, you name it.
And Geneva, that international crossroads of banking, commerce and language, serves up many delicious examples of Frenglish in advertising brochures and such.
OK. When you arrive at Geneva airport and are on your way to your gate on the electric ramp or on foot, inhaling inside air and trying to avoid hooking bag wheels on something or someone and wondering whether your passport is in the usual pouch.....
AHHH.....
Indirect lighting, promises of cool luxury and the good life, biotechnology to improve your chances of survival or fabulous insurance and health coverage. Expensive glass posters paid for with fat budgets.
The clincher is the phrase that's tacked on. The jingle, the hook, the whatever-you-call-it.
I may be stepping on the toes of some PR pros, but c'mon guys, these are embarrassing:
Chopard -- big-time jewelry: Life is a Smile
Give me a break. Many things can be many things, but life is not a smile. Or a grin or a leer or a frown or a smiley face. But you can't say La Vie Est Un Sourire. So this isn't even Frenglish.
Life is a beach, ok, I can live with that one -- a dash of wit, a play on words, a whiff of pleasure. Can't grin at Life is a Smile.
Bovet -- watches (with a dad and curly-haired kid): Born from Love
Right. Birth of a Watch, birth of a kid, legacy of a watch to kid born from love (love-child?). Anyway, who is born from love? Birth is generally from a female. The first Bovet watch was created in 1822. The original Mr. Bovet would be shocked, shocked! His watch a nature child?
Nespresso -- guess -- (with Clooney gazing demurely into an expresso cup): Pure Pleasure is Inside.
Inside what? His coffee cup? His stomach? His lap? Is this coy? Is Clooney about to make love to his coffee? I mean I love coffee and caffeine too, as it circulates through my system, my brain. Etc. Pure Pleasure Inside. Not even sexy, this.
Richard Mille -- more watches: A Racing Machine on the Wrist
Whaaaa? The wrist? Whose? Your wrist, my wrist. And hey, a racing machine sounds, like, heavy. Like who would you even want it on your wrist? Ever?
Even a total technophiliac wouldn't want to be saddled with heavy weight 'on the wrist' -- instant tendinitis. Ow.
Nissan - automobiles: Innovation that Excites
Oooh. This one, and the materials that went with it, won five marketing innovation rewards in 2012 for its Innovation That Excites - Altima Launch. And I'm sure it deserved the awards. But not for that phrase. Excites here is open-ended...you have to choose who will get excited or what part of you is supposed to get excited (imagination, body parts). I think that was the intent. But the open-ended, vague idea it tries to get across, and the dubious grammar leaves me very unexcited. Get a life Nissan! I love my Nissan Micra, but get yourselves a better copywriter.
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/releases/d3d07d6d-07af-4f95-b7be-191db2197ce1
And here's a cheesy poster from the Cointrin airport website.
Chahming!
http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx
