What is it with dubbing over foreign language TV adverts?
Perhaps that’s not quite the right question. It’s pretty obvious why foreign ads are dubbed over in English for an English speaking audience!
The right question on this topic would be ‘why do companies advertising in the UK use foreign adverts for their product and badly dub them over?’ Obviously there’s the expense of making a new ad versus the cost of dubbing an existing one, but surely the costs involved in filming someone brushing their teeth or applying zit cream to a cratered face can’t be that high, can it?
Then there’s the English language ads that are dubbed over in English accents rather than allowing Aussie or Yank patter to enter our ears. God forbid! Now I’m guessing that someone somewhere did some sort of expensive study that indicated that the common Englishman responds poorly to people with certain accents selling certain products. And whilst I am not English, I am immersed in the culture (what there is of it outside of football!) and I say fuck the common man! Give it to me straight!
It seems the only time a foreign accent speaking English is acceptable in advertising is when we are being coerced to by a product we associate with that accent. Fosters and Australia, Dolmio sauces and Italy, Blue Dragon sauces and China, you get the idea. Basically, if you’re selling the sauce do it foreign!
Advertising types listen up! If you have to dub, please do a good job!
Perhaps that’s not quite the right question. It’s pretty obvious why foreign ads are dubbed over in English for an English speaking audience!
The right question on this topic would be ‘why do companies advertising in the UK use foreign adverts for their product and badly dub them over?’ Obviously there’s the expense of making a new ad versus the cost of dubbing an existing one, but surely the costs involved in filming someone brushing their teeth or applying zit cream to a cratered face can’t be that high, can it?
Then there’s the English language ads that are dubbed over in English accents rather than allowing Aussie or Yank patter to enter our ears. God forbid! Now I’m guessing that someone somewhere did some sort of expensive study that indicated that the common Englishman responds poorly to people with certain accents selling certain products. And whilst I am not English, I am immersed in the culture (what there is of it outside of football!) and I say fuck the common man! Give it to me straight!
It seems the only time a foreign accent speaking English is acceptable in advertising is when we are being coerced to by a product we associate with that accent. Fosters and Australia, Dolmio sauces and Italy, Blue Dragon sauces and China, you get the idea. Basically, if you’re selling the sauce do it foreign!
Advertising types listen up! If you have to dub, please do a good job!
We would also appear not to like hearing about smells in a foreign accent. Febreze - fresh! Odor eaters. Appalling dubbing
ReplyDeleteYes! I know that one. A lot of lip flapping direct to camera but not many words! reminds me of Michael Winslow from the Police Academy movies.
ReplyDelete