Denglish in ad form

I've seen this dang ad all around town and it drives me nuts for a myriad of reasons. I've discussed it in German class, with my tandem partner, and even with a new acquaintance.

It's one of those "close, but no cigar" cases - but in this example, it's more like "close, but no cigarette!"

The tag line is "ready for advance." Uh, that's not the correct preposition. One can say "ready for advancement," "ready to advance," or "ready for an advance." Well, the last one really only works in the form of something like an advance of pay, which wouldn't necessarily make sense in this example.

Either way, the ad company would have benefited from running this by a native speaker of English. It's such a small nuance in this case to find the correct phrasing.

Oh, and as far as what the ad is hinting at, I have to say: really, people! Smoking will probably not advance one's career. If anything, it might shorten it.

Oh Harald, how you get around

As I first ventured into the exotic land of German supermarkets, I encountered Harald Glööckler. Or, more accurately, I could say that I discovered his over-the-top image on a chocolates box. Following that, I've seen him at a pet store.

I ran into Ol' Harald again at the luggage store. He was definitely more subdued in appearance than he had been in other advertising ventures but still made a splash with his mismatched shoes (toddler couture?) and huge rings.

Oh, Harald, how you travel! He knows the way to a woman's heart: have her pack her luggage that he designed, stash some chocolates inside, and kit her pet out in style, thanks to this over the top gentleman and the products he endorses. He always fascinates me but I think it's mostly because I have Angst for his facial hair.

A merry, if unrealistic, Christmas

Edeka has a cute holiday commercial:

However, I'd like to say that it's an unrealistic depiction of what shopping and waiting in line at a real German supermarket would be like. If people were actually held up in line like this, despite it being something cute, there would more likely be a line of people with their arms crossed, sighing, snarling, and unhappy. It's downright cray-cray at German supermarkets in the checkout line.

Despite that, it's still fun to watch this video.

Oh, the irony

This juxtaposition is very humorous. Sign #1: "Warm Welcome." Sign #2: Entering the grounds is forbidden.

Seen near the Mehlinger Heide.

Der Ampelmann goes on another adventure

Meine Mutti dachte, dass "Ampel" bedeutet, etwas wie "Amish."


Der Ampelmann sieht wie ein Amish Mann aus.

Mutti ist so süß.

teehee

Der Ampel Amish?

Dear Soft Eis Place:

No. Just no.

Mannheim Hauptbahnhof

Unsettling sight in Prague

In 2011, I took a trip with my family to Prague and saw this ad in the Metro station. It's sooo unsettling!

More photos from the Staubsauger Museum

A small group of us really enjoyed our visit to the Staubsauger Museum in Bruchmühlbach-Miesau and wrote about it here.

I took tons of pictures; here are some more. They are mostly of old advertisements for vacuum cleaners. I was incredibly fascinated by the mechanical vacuum cleaners that used no electricity.

When I first saw this ad, I thought, gee, the guy's just sitting there reading a newspaper while his wife is busy vacuuming. How rude! Herr Steffgan told us that this is a patent drawing for a vacuum cleaner that is provided suction by the person rocking back and forth in the chair. Apparently the husband pictured isn't as lazy as I had thought.

 

 

Another interesting contraption. The woman creates suction by walking on bellows.

 This vacuum is activated by turning the wheel. The photo above it is an ad for this model.

Close-up of the ad.

The Creepy Cows of Weinheim

On our way to the Miramar saunas, my friends and I were greeted by a pungent odor at the tram stop. Cows! As we neared the large commercial dairy farm, the smell shifted. Our group broke into a spirited debate of whether it was silage or cow manure. I declared myself an "expert" after one animal science class at the agricultural university and broke the tie: the sickly sweet smell was silage (with a hint of manure).

My friend told me that she finds the cow statues at farm incredibly creepy; she doesn't like the giant veins on the cows. As soon as the statues came into view, I could see why!

The most annoying party ever

I saw an ad (months ago) for what has to be one of the most annoying parties ever: a selfie party. One of the local clubs was hosting it.

I could only imagine what that would be like:

• Duck faces galore
• No one dancing because everyone's taking selfies instead
• More duck faces
• Did I mention duck faces?

I also take issue with this ad because the women pictured had someone else take their picture, thus invalidating the selfie theme. They even thought that taking a selfie was just too lame! I do like that it appears that one woman has two heads and four arms, though. It's the most interesting thing about the photo.

Rage parking in Barcelona

When I visited Barcelona earlier this fall with my friend R, we saw this parking garage. From our vantage point, it totally looked as if its sign read as "rage parking." Of course, if one had been stuck in traffic before entering the garage, that could certainly be an apt description!

That's not how you wear the hat!

We walked by Tschibo, a chain coffe bar/store with an odd assortment of goods and saw this display window:

I found it extremely disconcerting. Was it supposed to be some sort of mask? How the heck is the kid supposed to breathe or see with no eye/mouth holes? I was imagining someone putting the hat on their kid like it was on the mannequin and sending him into traffic in a horror-movie.

Then I realized that: a) I'm dumb; and b) whomever had set up the display probably messed up the placement as the thing is meant to be a hat and not a mask. In the advert, Mama in the top right is wearing it as a hat. That's significantly less creepy.

Star Kitties

We walked by an optician's store in Kaiserslautern and my friend was wondering why a Star Wars dude was in the window. I was wondering why Hello Kitty was in the window. Then I thought that maybe there should be a mash-up between the two: Star Kitties.

Seen in Eindhoven, Netherlands

When I was in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, I noticed the logo for Seats and Sofas. The logo includes a sofa with the American flag and the tagline "a giant take-away."

Oh my. Is it giant because everything in the US tends to be bigger, including our sofas and the buns that sit in them?

This sign made me laugh

This was in the parking lot of Edeka (grocery store) at the Hauptbahnhof in Kaiserslautern:

I was very pleased that I could read it. Remember, I still know very little German. It's an ad for chocolate that says: "For a date with your friend. Or with yourself."