Appalling marketing material
Apr. 15th, 2004 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mattlistenerI bought some nice costume rabbit ears at the Imax store in Niagara Falls, Canada during my Thanksgiving trip last fall. They came with a little square-folded pamphlet, the back of which read:
We at Wild Republic strive to educate the younger generation about the beauty and wonders of our animal kingdom in a fun and creative manner. We accomplish this by providing a wide range of creative and innovative toys that help spark the imagination and make learning fun yet affordable.
Probably their Corporate Mission Statement. Nevertheless, sounds admirable!
The four inside panels are in English, Spanish, French, and German. I used babelfish.org to translate the Spanish, and touched up the confusing parts of the output by translating the French. All three panels are obviously the same text:
Rabbit
Rabbits are very common to a large extent of the world and live in cities, marshes, fields and deserts. They eat grass, small branches, and other plants. These small animals have few defenses and many enemies. Foxes, coyotes, dogs, weasels and even people hunt rabbits. They are very quick and they can escape by running to their borrows. Also they can remain quiet and try to hide themselves.
Very factual and clean -- right on! The English panel has takes a different approach:
Rabbit
Make Wild Republic a part of your heart, body, mind and soul.
Rabbits are gentle,
They're easy
to scare.
But they can't
run away,
When they're
worn in your hair!
Yes, that's the entire panel. Gah! It goes beyond just being icky-cute and nearly fact-free to brainwashy-sounding in the first part and an undercurrent of animal cruelty in the rest.
We at Wild Republic strive to educate the younger generation about the beauty and wonders of our animal kingdom in a fun and creative manner. We accomplish this by providing a wide range of creative and innovative toys that help spark the imagination and make learning fun yet affordable.
Probably their Corporate Mission Statement. Nevertheless, sounds admirable!
The four inside panels are in English, Spanish, French, and German. I used babelfish.org to translate the Spanish, and touched up the confusing parts of the output by translating the French. All three panels are obviously the same text:
Rabbits are very common to a large extent of the world and live in cities, marshes, fields and deserts. They eat grass, small branches, and other plants. These small animals have few defenses and many enemies. Foxes, coyotes, dogs, weasels and even people hunt rabbits. They are very quick and they can escape by running to their borrows. Also they can remain quiet and try to hide themselves.
Very factual and clean -- right on! The English panel has takes a different approach:
Make Wild Republic a part of your heart, body, mind and soul.
Rabbits are gentle,
They're easy
to scare.
But they can't
run away,
When they're
worn in your hair!
Yes, that's the entire panel. Gah! It goes beyond just being icky-cute and nearly fact-free to brainwashy-sounding in the first part and an undercurrent of animal cruelty in the rest.
