Celebrity Marketing…

VOCABULARY

What is celebrity marketing you may be asking yourself? Well we see it every time we switch on the television and a film or the news is interrupted by advertisements .A famous person, this could be anyone whose face is familiar such as an actor, a musician, an athlete, an ex-politician or even a cartoon figure, tries to sell us something. In many cases, the famous person is no longer famous for what they usually do, so they turn to advertising and make an absolute fortune. Who can blame them? As long as there are companies who need a famous face to promote their products, there will be someone ready to do so? Britney Speers promoted Coca Cola, Gwyneth Paltrow does commercials for anything from perfumes to food and martini and never misses a chance to promote her own products. Pierce Brosnan (ex-007) has promoted Spar and diet coke.

George Clooney makes millions of dollars on his Nespresso adverts, most of which he spends on keeping a satellite over the border of North and South Sudan to keep an eye on Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese dictator, who is accused of war crimes. The advert I found quite depressing was the one where Buzz Aldrin, one of the first two humans to land on the moon, had to degrade himself by advertising porridge.

Also, here in Austria, celebrity sells – or does it? Hermann Maier, for example, the former Austrian World Cup champion alpine ski racer and gold medallist, who ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, often appears in commercials. The "Herminator" has now retired from skiing and you can hardly switch on the television without seeing him in one of the advertisements for Raiffeisen bank. We certainly can’t begrudge him that. He did so much for Austria and the ski world and had us all perched on the edge of our seats as we saw him win 54 World Cup race victories, including 24 super-G, 15 downhill’s, 14 giant slaloms and 1 combined, unbelievable. I once managed to squeeze his thigh as I walked past him at the Sport Gala and he didn’t even notice .No,I certainly have no problem with this legend earning so much money with this bank so that he can have a decent nest egg for his future. My problem is the very bad English in these advertisements which, in my opinion, makes this genius look rather stupid. Why English?

The first advert that the "Herminator" did for Raiffeisen bank saw Mr Maier telling everyone that "My home is my castle" which he pronounced "Kastl". However, the most recent one where Hermann Maier and the brilliant Marcel Hirscher say "I must to the bank" is much worse. It makes me, many English teachers and people who speak English well, just cringe. How are Austrian children supposed to learn correct English, if their heroes make such mistakes? Of course, he should have said "I must GO to the bank". Many beginners make this mistake: I didn’t (do) my homework or I must (go) to the hairdressers – but this was no mistake. Some marketing people think that as long as people are talking about it, it’s enough. I have only heard very negative comments about this commercial and it certainly won’t make people rush to change their bank.

So many Austrians are really fed up with all the English words entering into the German language and especially in advertising where we can hear "I’m lovin’ it", "Come in and find out" and my very favourite was the advertisement for a fitness fair which said "Fit your body". We all fit our bodies even if we weigh 130 kilo and have a backside the size of Gibraltar! If companies insist on using English words, they should at least use them correctly. celebrity marketing – Werbung mit Prominenten to switch on – einschalten the news – die Nachrichten to interrupt – unterbrechen advertisements – Werbung a familiar face – ein bekanntes Gesicht to make an absolute fortune – ein Vermögen verdienen who can blame them – wer sollte es ihnen verdenken commercials – Werbespots to miss a chance – eine Gelegenheit verpassen the border – die Grenze to keep an eye on sbd. – jmd. unter Beobachtung halten to accuse – beschuldigen war crimes – Kriegsverbrechen to degrade oneself – sich erniedrigen to rank among – gelten als to appear – erscheinen to retire – sich zurückziehen to begrudge – beneiden, missgönnen to be perched on the edge of a seat – wie auf Nadeln sitzen to squeeze – drücken thigh – Oberschenkel to notice sth. – etw. bemerken decent – ordentlich nest egg – finanzielles Polster the most recent one – das jüngste much worse – viel schlimmer to cringe – zusammenzucken to be supposed to – sollen heroes – Helden to be fed up with sth. – etw. satt haben fit your body – passe in deinen Körper backside – Hintern at least – wenigstens