Translational Issues: From English to English

This chapter deals with questions related to translation and creativity in advertising. It examines factors of translatability and mistakes in advertising. It has a conclusive section on harmony in translation and introduces the question of the definition of advertising and the role of English in localised advertising and English as the lingua franca of global advertising (AELF). It gives a selection of case studies related to the use of English words, slogans, tags, and brand names, correlating translational issues and adaptations from English and into English. On the grounds of its being the language of advertising, the spread of English (Advertising English as Lingua Franca, AELF) accounts for shifts in meaning and consequent cultural clashes engendering misperceptions and mistakes in written form and multimodal advertising. A thematic corpus of errors is analysed ranging from the unintentionally offensive to cultural inadequacy. It aims to challenge existing advertising literature in successful global campaigns and shifts the perspective to more challenging multilingual and cross-cultural dynamics.