That's not what that means!

This week I had a great adult student for one of my classes. She's new and around my age, so we have a good time talking (thanks to the fact that her English is better than most).

We got on the topic of the English language in marketing and advertising. In Japan, you'll usually see the logo of an item, and then a brief description or tag line somewhere else on the product. For simplicity, I am only referring to food products in Japan. Sometimes just the logo is off-putting for the average English speaker. For example, who wants to drink a beverage called Pocari SWEAT? If sweat is in the title, count me out. But more often, the well meaning description of the product is where things get wacky. Usually it's just amusing. On alcohol bottles they will say things like, "Makes for relaxing moments" or "cheerful times will be had by all." But it's not just alcohol. Most snacks and candy have something like, "Please enjoy during your most relaxing moments" or even describe themselves as "sophisticated and elegant" (usually designer chocolates --yes, they have those-- have that kind of phrasing on them).

In one restaurant, there was a poem's length of rambling on the wall of the memories you will make during your meal.

On another, "Hamburger is my life"

So I'm trying to explain all this to my student (spoiler alert, I fail) and she just says, "well, it's a cultural difference, I guess." To which I automatically (and arrogantly) think in my head, "Sure, but you can't use another language in a way that culturally suits you, it's absurd. It's nice that people market products with an ideal consumption experience, but that's not how you do things."

No, I didn't say any of these things. I tried to explain that "relax" is overused on almost every product in japan, from corn flakes to bottled water, but she didn't get it. I went over the definition of "relax" over and over but it only goaded her on her original point. "Relaxing isn't a bad thing! Why shouldn't these products be described this way?" Because they are not!

Slowly, she won me over, though. While Americans describe things on their content, taste, and texture, the Japanese will try to describe and sell an experience that the food will contribute to, and that's just the way things are. No one owns English, and the Japanese have a way with it all their own :)