Advertising: That Local Touch

“Certainly not,” begin the Wrigley ads in Britain’s quality newspapers and magazines, agreeing that in court or railway carriage no proper Englishmen should ever think of chewing gum. But the ads go on to reassure gum-shy Britons that at other times, in other places, gum is not only acceptable but “a definite aid to oral hygiene.” Far more subdued than Wrigley messages for masticating Americans, the “Certainly not” ads have stepped up sales. They also exemplify a trend toward tailor-made world advertising that is summed up by McCann-Erickson’s Brazil Manager Sergio Souza: “We use internationally recognized methods and appeal to basic human desires and fears. But we add national touches, color and language.”

Magic Is Out. With advertising expanding fast around the world, companies have learned the hard way that no single slogan or sales pitch can be successful everywhere. Copywriters for General Motors found out that “Body by Fisher” came out “Corpse by Fisher” in Flemish. “Schweppes Tonic Water” was speedily dehydrated to “Schweppes Tonica” in Italy, where “il water” idiomatically indicates a bathroom. In Brazil, one U.S. airline proudly advertised the swank “rendezvous lounges” on its jets, learned belatedly that rendezvous in Portuguese means a room hired for assignations. Africa is an account executive’s nightmare. Native words acceptable in one town are obscenities 50 miles away, and that old advertising catchword “magic” has doubtful value; to Africans the word is linked with a mythical devil named Tokoloshe, who gets young girls pregnant. To get through to Africans who do not read ads in the press or see them on TV, Coca-Cola passes out free dresses with Coke bottles colorfully imprinted in indelible ink.

The hard sell is considered extremely impolite in Japan, where consumers respond best to ads that emphasize the product’s health-giving qualities and list the ingredients. The Germans also prefer directness; to sell, a soap must stress cleansing power rather than fluffy wash or handy container. The Spanish have a confident serenity, and ads that suggest snob appeal fall flat. Italians, though they bred Gina and Sophia, are prudish about sex and seminudity. “We can’t present a woman as a sex kitten,” moans an adman in Italy, where the Maidenform girl is photographed modestly at home and forgoes Freudian dreams.

Crocodiles Are In. Color can be an Oriental problem: purple is a noble shade in Japan but represents death in Burma; and on Formosa, despite the political connotations, red is considered a lucky color, and advertisements abound in crimson. Africans, along with admiration for anything “new from America,” have extremely literal reactions. Gillette is a heavy seller because it uses wrappers that depict a razor blade slicing a crocodile in half to emphasize sharpness. But literal-mindedness can be a problem. After her first glimpse of television, one native woman asked: “When all the good men have killed all the bad men, why do they rush off to clean their teeth?”