Mug Lovers, the use of English as a marketing tool in Lleida
MUG LOVERS
The use of English as a marketing tool in Lleida
by Helena de Dios Ribalta
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Figure 1. Mug Lovers’ poster (photo taken by Helena de Dios on the 23rd of February 2023)
1. INTRODUCTION
Mug Lovers is a popular café located in Rambla d’Aragó 35 in Lleida, near the Faculty of Lletres UDL. Because of where is located it is a perfect café for the students to take a snack while they are at the university.
Mug Lovers is located in the neighborhood of Universitat, as we have said it is near the Rectorat. This building is surrounded by museums, the library of Lleida, and a beautiful park for children. The atmosphere in this area is healthy and beautiful and you can always see people going to work or study, especially from Monday to Friday. It is an area where there is always movement and life. This is a crowd pleaser, and a plus point for the cafe to attract customers.
The image analyzed (see Figure 1) is a poster that contains almost all the products we can consume in Mug Lovers. It is written in two main languages using the Latin alphabet: English and Catalan. It is important to highlight that in some cases they mixed phrases of both languages, multilinguism is used inferentially. (e.g. Icedmugs Sense Gluten- noun phrases). Therefore, the linguistics landscape we have is monoglossic since we only have one alphabet. The predominating language is English, Catalan is not foregrounded.
2. CONTEXTUALIZATION
The Linguistic Landscape we are dealing with is located in Rambla d’Aragó, 35, which is a crowded avenue near the University of Lleida. It is surrounded by restaurants, a photography studio, the building of the Agencia Tributaria, and two primary schools. The next image (FIGURE 2) is a map of the area we have mentioned.
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The socio-economic profile of people who usually frequent this avenue is mostly middle-class. According to the Statistics Institute of la Generalitat (2022), Lleida has 140.797 inhabitants, of which 111.668 are local population and there are 29.129 immigrants. The reason why it is middle-class is that it is a student zone and there are a lot of bars and restaurants, so it is a zone busy with leisure, although we passed two streets after the Rectorat we find poverty and people leaving on ethnic business. Moreover, there is not any luxury business zone since the residences are in another part of the city.
3. METHODOLOGY
When our teacher talked to us about this project, I clearly had the idea that I wanted to do my study on the use of the English language in commerce posters since we have it so interiorized that we do not consciously distinguish the fact of using the English language as a claim to attract more people to enter to the café. I do not remember the first time I saw Mug Lovers, but I have a clear memory of thinking that they have a very attractive aesthetic and a clear idea of business identity that was reflected in each aspect of the café. The photo was taken on the 23rd of February when I was going to the university.
According to Generalitat the Catalunya (institutional governmental policy): “In Catalunya there is a legal obligation to have at least some presence of the Catalan language on all public and private signs. The linguistic landscape is […] monitored by the language policy department of the regional government” (Gorter, 2006: 85). These local languages are complex, and one is minoritized (Catalan) and the other is the official in the state. What we want to take a look at is to understand the interplay between local and global languages now with the emergence of English, its role, and also the implications of using it. The token analysis formed part of the commercial category since it is a poster used by showing the products you can consume in the café.
If we take a look at the poster, which is used we see at the top side the logo with a phrase under it Special Coffee Sincere Food, which is the logo that gives us a clear idea of the philosophy of the café. There are three words highlighted in bold (healthy, nutrició conscient, ecològic i de proximitat) that also are principles of the company, if we take a look at their social profile one can see that they do by their own all the bakery and they are proud of the quality of their coffee. Going into detail, we see a lot of products written in English (e.g. smoothies), others in Catalan (e.g. barretxa, vermut.), they also join part of their name with a product (e.g. bowlovers). We also see a word in French (frappes), the use of that language gives a sense of professionalism in the sector.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The street looks alive and partly thanks to MugLovers, according to the European Linguistics Landscape observatory we have an aesthetic value because it transmits a feeling of beauty since we have the park with dogs at the front side, productive value because we have the building of Agència Tributària upside the street, and also identity value taking into account the building (Rectorat) in front of the café. The token analyzed provides an economical benefit to the company since it accomplishes its function, and attracts people. The values are expressed by all we have mentioned, they have based their brand on some principles that are rigorously respected. In reference to social value, its branding is made for clients and enjoyed by them.
This poster is a clear example of commercial multilingualism in the use of the English language as a fetish, as an attention-to-gatherer in order to attract more people entering the café. It is based on English borrowings that are now accommodated into the Catalan sociolinguistic schema. Although there are some people that do not understand English at all, they can understand this kind of poster because it is understood by connotations, therefore, locals may understand it as well.
The role of English is crucial to understand why it is used as a marketing resource and its identity value. There are some positive stereotypes that involved the language; it is socially believed as indexing cosmopolitanism, giving innovation and modernity, and internationalization, as a claim. The use of the English language seems to add an extra point to the poster for all the reasons we have said, also it is the actual lingua franca so it is international, seeing it in a poster may also attract people from abroad (language friendly). On the other hand, we do not have to forget that the use of Catalan expresses the local identity, because it is addressed to locals. Even though they used a lot of English they do not forget about their local identity, so they cater to local people.
5. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
In concluding thoughts, I would say that it was difficult to distinguish the main language in this poster since almost all the words are in English what is the purpose of this project, also to notice in which part of commerce we use English in order to attract more people to come to the shops and cafés. The use of crafted and English as a commercial language are tools used nowadays in marketing. We can talk about fake English in order to boost the economy. English is a synonym for globalization The token analyzed provokes people to spend money so it has a commercial value in relation to Unit 4, we can also say that English is used as a linguistic currency (Gorter, 2009), as we have said but in other words, English seems to have a plus in our brains that gives us a sense of being in front the best product and that incites us to consume or buy the product. It seems to give an advantage and a major strength over even our proper language. I want also to denote commercial multilingualism, which is related to English as an open-minded feeling, an international market force. The borrowings used are the key element and they are used to associate a product with a social stereotype of modernity, progress, and globalization ((Eldelman & Gorter 2010: 97). The target of clients they have is closely linked with the aesthetic of the local and the values it transmits. English as we see in a lot of aspects, also has supremacy in an economic sense. English also may denote quality credibility and it is also used to achieve the desire of communicating effectively in different markets.
In my personal opinion, I like linking the theory with the practice in fact my aim was to focus on something with is invisible to our eyes, but that we have interiorized in our subconscious. We were competent observers after recapitulating information on language landscapes provided by our teacher and the readings. English is used all the time for a purpose and that is what I wanted to state by doing this project, we have to be aware of the use of the English language and it is a symptom of globalization. Time passed and every day we entered deeper into Englishisation.
6. REFERENCES
● Edelman, L., & D. Gorter. (2010) Linguistic landscapes and the market. In: H. Kelly-Holmes & G. Mautner (eds.), Language and the Market (96-108). London: Palgrave.
● Google. (n.d.). Google maps. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mug+Lovers/@41.613968,0.6203457,18z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x12a6e15992a14931:0x5f5232b133dd74fa!8m2!3d41.6140763!4d0.6198897!16s%2Fg%2F11h6mkx2mv
● Gorter, D., & J. Cenoz. (2009). Language economy and linguistic landscape economy and linguistic landscape. In: E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (55-69). New York / London: Routledge.
● MugLovers. Español. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://muglovers.es/?lang=ca
● Handout Unit 4 from https://cv.udl.cat/access/content/group/101266-2223/Part%20A%20Sociolinguistics/Unit%204/Hand-out_and_Ppt_Unit_4_19_20.pdf
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