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July 22, 2002
Flocons, Croustilles Et Dentifrice
As some of you well know, Canada has two official languages: English and French. That means all products must have labels printed in both languages. This means one of two things:
- Boxes will have an English side and a French side. For example, one side of a box of cereal is labeled "Corn Flakes" the other side is labeled "Flocons de maïs".
- Both English and French will be crammed onto the same side. For example, a bag of chips is labeled "All-Dressed Potato Chips / Croustilles assaisionnées".
Toothpaste falls under category 2. One side says "Toothpaste / Dentifrice", the other side has the Canadian Dental Association section and directions.
Now I know what you're thinking, "Gee, Chris really doesn't have much to talk about today so he's spouting out about cereal and toothpaste." Well, yes. But I do have a point. Here in the United States, there is only one official language (English). That means products that in Canada have crammed text (ie toothpaste) have more than enough room on their American counterparts. So what do the Americans fill up that extra space with? Well, on this 175 gram tube of Crest, our good friends at Proctor & Gamble decided to fill the white space with this helpful tidbit (in bold capital letters, no less):
FOR BEST RESULTS, SQUEEZE TUBE FROM THE BOTTOM AND FLATTEN AS YOU GO UP
Now I wonder if they printed this message because people were actually having problems getting the toothpaste out. I can imagine some backwards hick wringing the tube with both hands so he could brush Ol' Chomper.
If Americans need instructions to get the paste out of the tube, I wonder how many could remove the cap without help.
Comments
I think more labels in the U.S. should be printed with more than one language. Pringles potato chips do a good job of the two sidedness with English and Spanish, but more basic things need mixed language labeling. I work at a grocery store, and there a lot of Mexican immigrants who have trouble finding the things they need. We try to be as friendly as possible, but I know some of them still hesitate to ask when they need something. I helped a couple last week who needed cough medicine. They brought up one brand, the guy highly concentrated on the front of the packaging, and in the best but still broken English asked if it was for the pain. Of course I could immediately recognize that what he really wanted instead of basic cough medicine was something to treat a sore throat. I could see why it would be difficult to purchase even some of the most simple and necessary things.
Posted by: Chad Brandos at January 20, 2004 8:55 PM