NPR’s All Things Considered just did a really nice little piece about a peculiarity of the Spanish of the porteños of Argentina. (See the NPR link at the end of this story). Advertising Age Magazine also did a piece on the new campaign by Pepsi that finally “gives in” to the persistence of the Argentinian way of pronouncing “Pepsi”.
As you speakers (and students) of Spanish know, Spanish is remarkably consistent. Usually the way it’s spelled is the way it’s pronounced. With the few unusuals (for the U.S.) such as Yuh for LL ,etc., Spanish is much more consistent than English for the spoken word. (Think I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh).
Well, Argentina is a bit unusual. Y and LL aren’t Yuh but Shh. ¿Como te SHama? And it seems that for years now, a fairly large percentage of the population has been pronouncing Pepsi as Pecsi. I don’t know why. So Pepsi has started an ad campaign that discusses the “democracy of pronunciation”. It’s been a hit. Especially with the kids. And since Pepsi is also about a peso cheaper than Coke, it’s market share is improving.
Not everyone thinks it’s a good idea, however. At least one commenter on the Advertising Age site (see the link below) says “What next?” Dumb down all the words that people mispronounce? The example of Bebsi in the Middle East was used to ask how far this would go. Will Pepsi end up being called something different in every country? Even on the bottle? But then again, the majority of the comments on Ad Age were in support of Pepsi.
I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s their product. When they sell it in China, they use Chinese writing. When McDonald’s became Micky Dee’s everyone thought it was cute. A product has to keep reinventing itself if it’s to stay on top. That’s what Pepsi is doing – reinventing itself. Go for it. Have a Pecsi (which is also a location and a football team in Hungary).
Here are a few fun Pepsi (excuse me — Pesci) links:
Click here for a YouTube version of a Pecsi ad (in Spanish): Pecsi
NPR Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=106735717&m=106747452
Advertising Age link: http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=137946
Tags: Buenos Aires · Learning Spanish · Pepsi · PesciNo Comments
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