Filed under: iPhone
iPhone ads c'est bon, non? French spots now online
Reader Guglielmo sent word that the first four French iPhone ads hit the airwaves today (also viewable at apple.com/fr in a wide selection of resolutions). The ads end with the tag screen of a November 29th on-sale date for the French model.Unfortunately I don't speak French, so I can't comment on the ad scripts, but as far as I can tell they hew fairly close to the original US versions, subbing in Le Monde for the NY Times and other culturally appropriate substiutions. I do think that "un pâle imitation d'internet" is a pretty awesome phrase, though. You can compare the German and UK ads at their respective pages.
Thanks Guglielmo
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Linus said 10:46AM on 11-26-2007
Not related to story, but this is awesome ad placement done by apple....
http://www.cnet.com/windows-vista.html
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heyvince said 10:52AM on 11-26-2007
It would be great if a french speaking member of the Mac Faithful could translate the ad. Thanks
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baguette said 10:55AM on 11-26-2007
I am French and the translation of the original ad is word to word...
It's so bad... The guy speak to you like if you have IQ of 10...
You should not translate word by word as a general rule. This is the same words but not the same message.
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j0hn said 11:03AM on 11-26-2007
I'm a french speaking maclover!
The ads are almost identical to the first ones aired in the US... I don't think they need to be translated.
By the way, it's "une pâle imitation d'internet" not "un pâle imitation d'internet".
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Michel said 11:06AM on 11-26-2007
it's mostly the same thing than the english one. not word to word, but meaning to meaning.
in fact, when you say that with humor, it's funny to call something "une pâle imitation", it's a harsh judgement, a lack of respect of the imitating thing.
for example, I say "Windows est une pâle imitation de Mac os X" to emphasize how much windows sucks :)
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Tony Ward said 11:23AM on 11-26-2007
It's sad... I can understand these ads fairly well, but I don't know if that means my French is still intact from high school, or I've just memorized the ads in English. Dommage!
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diane said 11:27AM on 11-26-2007
une pâle imitation d'internet means " a lame imitation of internet" so it's not really a compliment !
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e said 11:28AM on 11-26-2007
Indeed, "une pâle imitation" is negative. However the ad (http://www.apple.com/fr/iphone/ads/ad3/) goes like this: This is NOT "une pâle imitation d'Internet".
They should rephrase the webpage title.
Word to word translation is not so sexy...
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Ross said 11:34AM on 11-26-2007
Note: It ends with "Avec Orange", "With Orange" rather than a translation of "Only On Orange" - obviously because in france they will all be sold unlocked...
Assuming this works in the same way as the overpriced locked ones in Germany, IMEI recorded with Apple ... then it should be as simple as buying an iPhone in France to get an unlocked one...
Which of course begs the question, why will anyone in Germany pay the extortionate 999EUR price when they can get one in france for less.
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harrywolf said 1:49PM on 11-26-2007
Doesnt matter what the language - these are superb ads!
The composition of the text is perfect, understated foregone conclusion, backed by the final bars of the tune, and the least important part, as if thrown away, 'oh, heres a call'.
I think these have won/will win many awards.
The French one makes me want to go to France....!
Didnt like the precious English voice - but then the Brits never get anything right, do they?
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Tony said 1:55PM on 11-26-2007
Presumably it'll be a standard subsidy model, so you can buy the iphone at €alot (probably not €999 if they actually want to sell any.. that would make it about double the sim free N95 for example) and if you sign up with Orange they'll give it you for €260.
Of course now there's nothing to stop other operators doing the same deal, which means that french users get more choice... pay €0 and a higher contract, pay €400 and get a lower contract, etc.
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thieu75 said 3:16PM on 11-26-2007
Hi !
I'am french too and when i saw thoses new ads, i decided to googles the name of caller at the end of few of one ...
And 2 or more have use the name of TBWA france employee !
> Christophe Defaye, : http://www.linkedin.com/ppl/webprofile?action=vmi&id=3576269&authToken=WYdq&authType=name&trk=ppro_viewmore
> Claire Botreau : http://www.snptv.org/actualites/vusalatele.php?id=504
Fun, isn't it ?
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tom said 7:44PM on 11-26-2007
Funny how the music loaded on the iPhone is different, they visit different websites, they get phone calls from people with names that are more French -- but when they get to YouTube, apparently even the French love that crazy skateboarding dog.
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