Every once in a while the temperature rises in Quebec over the use of English names in the branding goods, services retailers.
In a letter to the editor of La Presse this week, a reader complains that 1-800-GOT-JUNK gets away with such a name in big bold letters on its trucks.
There was of course the uproar in 2007 over Esso’s plans to rebrand its Marché Express to On the Run. A decision that was eventually reversed.
And now there’s a press conference being organized today by Le Mouvement Montreal francais to denounce Red Bull’s Crashed Ice event in Quebec City this weekend. MMF, in a press release on CNW
(available in French
only coincidently), calls this “spitting on the French language” – the
translation is mine of course.
The release refers to data from a SOM-La Presse survey from 2007 that revealed that 68% of Quebeckers do not like signs in the English language. In fact, 35% say that it has a somewhat or very negative influence on their choice of a store.
It seems to me that this is comparing apples and oranges. Brand names on goods aren’t the same as store signs.
As far as store signs are concerned, the law is clear. Article 25 of the Reglement sur la langue du commerce et des affaires states that a trademark can be used exclusively in English e.g. Costco Wholesale, Home Depot, Canadian Tire. That’s why l’Office quebecois de la langue francaise ruled that GOT-JUNK could keep its name.
And as far as calling Red Bull “Taureau Rouge” as demanded by the MMF, I can’t wait to see where they’d go with Cheez Whiz.
I’m all for keeping the Quebec landscape predominantly French but there are rules and marketers follow them. Perhaps the MMF should take a different approach; one that compels rather than confront retailers to use French names. And they should start with the gay village. A Gazette reader with the help of http://www.gueermontreal.info surveyed the gay village and found these names on signs: Rocky, Cocktail, Unity, Stock, Stud, Tools, Sky, Backroom, Club Date, Metro Lounge, Parking, Metropool, Stereo, Drugstore
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