Should shops in Geneva be using the English word ‘Sale’ to announce a bargain or stick with the French word ‘Soldes’?
A member of the Geneva Grand Council, Jean Romain, wants to defend the French language and force shops to use the French word – or at least a bilingual version.
He says people will not buy less if shops communicate in French.
But it’s not a simple case, says the head of the Geneva Trade Federation Louise Barradi.
She points out many of the shops are part of international companies and they receive their marketing material from across Europe – or even the world. And she says Geneva is an international city.
A point backed up by the head of the Swiss based Enigma advertising agency. Olivier Kennedy told the Tribune de Genève that Switzerland accepts multilingualism as part of its identity – and English does have a ‘cool’ image in the country.
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