Trademarks in the linguistic landscape: methodological and theoretical challenges in qualifying brand names in the public space

Effects of Difficult and Easy English Slogans in Advertising for Dutch Consumers

“…On the other hand, comprehension may not play a part at all for consumers with low English proficiency, in that for them English only has symbolic value (e.g., Haarmann 1989;Ray, Ryder, and Scott 1991;Piller 2003Piller , 2001Kelly-Holmes 2005;Kuppens 2010). For this group of consumers, the actual meaning of the English texts in ads may be less important than the values that English stands for, such as, sophistication or modernity (Kelly-Holmes 2000, 67;Piller 2003, 175;Kuppens 2010, 116-17;Tufi and Blackwood 2010;Potowski 2011;Taylor-Leech 2012;Manan et al 2015;Santello 2015, 4).…”

“…This recognition is thought to evoke stereotypes about English, which are subsequently transferred to the product advertised. Stereotypical associations evoked by English include notions such as modernity, prestige, international orientation, and sophistication (Kelly-Holmes 2000, 67;Piller 2003, 175;Kuppens 2010, 116-117;Tufi and Blackwood 2010;Potowski 2011;Taylor-Leech 2012;Santello 2015, 4;Manan et al 2015). Kuppens (2010, 116) observes that advertisements sometimes contain "meaningless words or sentences that only sound English, " illustrating that what matters is not the meaning of the foreign language used in the ad, but the image conjured up by the foreign language.…”

Globalese: a new visual-linguistic register

“…Ingrid Piller (2011) argues that what she refers to as corporate nonlanguages are largely based on recognizable resources from English and a few other languages "to index diversity in a uniform manner" (109). Indeed, brand names and other aspects of corporate-marketing discourse are increasingly designed and perceived as not "belonging" to an identifiable ethno-national code (Tufi and Blackwood 2010). Many examples cited above point in the same direction, especially if we consider them as instances of multimodal, spectacularized displays combining letters, words, diacritics, punctuation marks, images, objects, cityscapes, and bodies.…”

Conflict, Exclusion and Dissent in the Linguistic Landscape

“…By making no distinction between fixed and non-fixed signs, buildings or other fixtures, such as manhole covers (Tufi and Blackwood, 2010), LL researchers recognise that authorised public signs are not more deserving of attention than non-authorised signs, such as graffiti , signs carried or displayed by protesters Kasanga, 2014;, or printed materials that are part and parcel of everyday consumption, such as labels, pamphlets, flyers and leaflets, handbills and tissues (Scollon, 1997), stamps, tickets, bills (Sebba, 2010(Sebba, , 2013, banknotes (Hawkins, 2010;Sebba, 2013), menus .…”