Posted on 12/02/2005 9:59:39 AM PST by icwhatudo
(FR) JC Penny has been running identical advertisements for its upcoming sale this weekend on both English and Spanish TV stations. Identical except for one thing, on Univision (the Spanish network available on American cable systems) the JC Penny graphics are calling it the "Navidad"(Christmas in Spanish) sale while on English channels the graphics read "holiday" sale.
When asked by a member of Freerepublic.com why Christmas was appropriate for one ad but not the other, a female JC Penny representative at 1-800-322-1189 replied "its possible the person producing the Spanish version of the ad did not know the Spanish word for holiday"
In light of the complaints recieved by home improvement store Lowes, where it was shown they used "holiday" trees in English signage and "Navidad"(Christmas)trees for their spanish versions which led them to end the policy, its hoped pressure on JC Penny can have the same result.
If anyone can screen capture the ad on Univision or your local Spanish channel please post here-thanks!
Fire everyone of these PC police inside corporate Human Resource depts.
This has to stop. It can only stop when we quit giving them our money.
So, they are claiming illiteracy as an excuse? How sweet.
Honda has an ad on tv now where some carolers are singing: "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas." Except they've substituted "happy holidays". Because of the extra syllable its sounds very stupid
I just called the number with my concern. She tried to say they used Holiday because it was for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. A little lame, huh? At least it ended with her responding Merry Christmas to my Merry Christmas.
that makes no sense. their sale started way after Thanksgiving
I am only shopping in stores where "Merry Christmas" is still the norm.
The Libs can shop everywhere else.
Actually, the are saying "Happy Honda Days"
"A little lame, huh?"
I don't think so. When I've said happy holidays to people I meant it as just that. It's a blanket greeting covering Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. I guess that's why these stories dont bother me much. I think some folks read a little too much into it sometimes. It is indeed "The Holidays" this time of year. My 2c.
And of course, there would absolutely no way of finding out. It must have just been a lucky break that he knew what Navidad meant.
According to this
http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/default.aspx
The sale STARTS on Dec 2 and ends on the 4th.
So much for the thanksgiving excuse....
I don't buy Thanksgiving gifts or New Years gifts. I buy and exchange Christmas gifts.
its possible the person producing the Spanish version of the ad did not know the Spanish word for holiday
Its pretty standard to have people produce advertisements in languages they are not familiar with.
In fact, I used to produce television commercials in Swahili and Czech.
If they think using the word Christmas is offensive, then they are offensive to me and they are getting none of my money.
Whenever I se Holiday ads I call them up and state that I buy Christams gifts not "Holiday" gifts therefor they will not be benefitting from my business.
At Thanksgiving, I say Happy Thanksgiving. At Christmas, I say Merry Christmas. On New Years, I say Happy New Year. Isn't that what you do?
well I haven't taken Spanish classes since high school, but they could've gone with:
fiesta
dia festivo
or if you wanted to literally translate "holy day" it would be something along the lines of "dia santa"
oops. Well, it still sounds stupid.
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