Translation of Advertisement

In today's world, with the rapid development of international trade, the role of advertisement translation in international communication is becoming increasingly important. Excellent advertisement translation can enhance the appeal of products. French advertisements are characterized by their language organization, color combinations, and form choices. Drawing on the experience of classic French advertisements can help the development of advertisements in our country. This article aims to explore different strategies for advertisement translation from the perspective of the language of French advertisements.

Advertisement is a unique genre. Its practical and commercial aspects lie in its ability to attract consumers to purchase products. Therefore, translated advertisements should also have the ability to stimulate consumer spending. In the past, advertisement translation emphasized being "faithful" to the original text according to traditional translation standards. However, practice has shown that simply translating is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of advertisers and customers. In some cases, retranslation or rewriting is inevitable. The functional translation theory proposed by scholar Claude Tatilon in 1971 provided direction for translation practices. It emphasizes the role of the "target language" in translation activities, where translators use the language characteristics and cultural background of the target language as a guide to flexibly choose translation strategies that can best achieve the intended function. Below we will deepen our understanding of this theory through examples of advertisement translation practices.

First, let's look at the case of literal translation. Literal translation refers to a translation strategy that retains the form and content of the original text without violating the characteristics of the source language advertisement. The information presented in the translation must be true, reliable, and faithful to the original text. For example, "La tentation. Le plaisir. — A temptation, a pleasure." The translation follows the content and format of the original text, perfectly highlighting the focus of the advertisement—temptation and pleasure.

Secondly, advertisement translation should also pay attention to the lexical characteristics of the target language, such as:

(1) Ensemble, la solution. (Advertisement for the French temp agency MANPOWER)

Working together, the solution.

(2) Le bonheur debout. Le bonheur couché. (Advertisement for Club Méditerranéen)

Happiness while standing. Happiness while lying down.

(3) Des hommes au service des hommes. (Advertisement for E.D.F.)

I am for everyone.

Observing the above examples, we can see that French advertisement phrases are concise and often consist of four-character words in the translation. Each advertising phrase could also be translated into sentences, but why do translators unanimously choose four-character words? It is because four-character words better suit the language habits of Chinese consumers. Moreover, their catchy rhythm strongly promotes the dissemination of advertisements.

At the syntactic level, translators will also make changes to the translation based on the language habits of the target language audience. For example, the advertisement slogan for L'Oréal: Car vous le valez bien. — Because you're worth it. In French, "car" means "because," leading an attributive clause. However, the translator did not translate it as "because you're worth it." By making this deletion, the focus is directly placed on the most important part, and reducing redundant Chinese characters can save space and money. Another example is an advertisement for a beer brand: Quand c'est plein, on la vide; quand c'est vide, on se plaint. — When it's full, we empty it; when it's empty, we complain. "Quand" means "when..." in French, and although the translator omitted this word, readers can easily infer its meaning. This type of deletion provides space for creativity for the translator, and the symmetrical and rhyming structure of the sentence perfectly reproduces the characteristics of the original advertisement.

Furthermore, it is well known that advertisements make use of rhetoric, and we should try to retain this feature in translations. For example, Quand on fait ses comptes, la qualité compte. — When we count, quality counts. The original advertisement uses a rhetorical device of repetition, where the same word is used multiple times with different meanings. Although "compte" has a noun meaning of "account" and a verb meaning of "count," the translator cleverly used "count" twice in the translation, presenting the interesting wordplay of the original advertisement to the target language audience, which not only garners smiles from the audience but also successfully implies the product's excellent quality.

Chinese and French are two vastly different languages, and advertisements from both countries have different language characteristics. Therefore, when translating French advertisements into Chinese, one should not simply adopt a "loyalty" translation approach but consider the effect the advertisement intends to achieve among the target audience. Let the purpose guide the action, and through flexible means such as retranslation or rewriting, ensure that the advertisement reflects promotional functions and commercial value.

◀️：Translation from Chinese to English: Audience Awareness in External Communication Translation

▶️：Audience Awareness in Translation