3 ms·
I think the analysis may be interesting to readers who can't read Chinese, but I don't think the author has taken the time to analyse the phrase in the context
by hmwhy 9y ago
I think the analysis may be interesting to readers who can't read Chinese, but I don't think the author has taken the time to analyse the phrase in the context of advertising, and I don't think the conclusion is at all surprising.
To begin with, I tend to disagree that the alternative the author suggested ("yīqǐ Zhīfùbǎo 一起支付宝") is catchier. Using "let's" in this context does forgo rhythm but it's also a lot catchier when it's read out in an advertisement for exactly the same reason—I would argue that people remember it because of the sudden interruption introduce by the disruption in rhythm and change in language.
In fact, if this multiscriptal advertisement was carefully designed (instead of the designer thinking that it's simply cool), I would go as far as arguing that they only want people to remember the second half of the phrase, "let's 支付宝".
As for the conclusion that "[Alipay] wanted to sound international, since Alipay has global aspirations", as I mentioned earlier, I don't think it's at all surprising.
Growing up in Hong Kong, multiscriptalism in advertisements has been around for as long as I have been alive and the purpose, at least for as long as I have been able to understand the purpose of advertisements, has always been to either make a product appear to be hip and cool and/or international.
- jccalhoun 9y agoAre they trying to make "let's alipay" a slogan? if that were the case I would definitely agree with you but with a single example it is hard to say for certain either way.
- hmwhy 9y agoIf you are referring to just the slogan for this particular campaign then I would say yes (I don't think they are trying to make it a universal Alipay slogan in all Chinese-speaking countries). The calligraphic font used for the phrase in question in that advertisement is commonly used for slogans or take-home message in modern Chinese advertisements. The placement of the phrase also suggests that it's a slogan. Other images from MTR Advertising[1] also seem to suggest that it's the intended slogan of this campaign, too. [1]https://www.facebook.com/mtradvertising/photos/a.1594480723929038.1073742656.103620803015045/1594480857262358 https://www.facebook.com/mtradvertising/photos/a.15944807239...
- GuiA 9y agoIf there are any designers on HN interested in multilingual design, I recommend the book "Type Hybrid: Typography in Multilingual Design". https://www.amazon.com/Type-Hybrid-Typography-Multilingual-Design/dp/9881320399/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508616990&sr=8-1&keywords=typography+design+hybrid https://www.amazon.com/Type-Hybrid-Typography-Multilingual-D...