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Spanish to English translations [PRO] Marketing - Advertising / Public Relations / Food and drink
Spanish term or phrase:frescura
In a market research survey, where people were asked what they liked about an ad for a beer, many gave the one-word answer "frescura". Are they talking about originality? Or are they saying that the image was "fresh" in a different way? Imagining that they're looking at a billboard with a beer bottle as the main focus. I don't think we'd respond to the same question with "freshness" in English. Maybe "It's original" or "The beer looks cold". I'm not really sure what they're getting at in Spanish. What do you think?
Yes, I agree that "fresh" could be also used instead of "cool". I also concur that "frescura" is unlikely to be used for the beer itself, and I have never heard it in that context. People tend to say "la cerveza está fría". "La cerveza está fresca" sounds odd in Castilian Spanish", as "frescura" is used mainly to indicate that a product as such (e.g., fish) is fresh and would therefore not apply to beer - it is impossible to know when the beer was brewed.
BTW, I personally would not be able to distinguish one brand of beer from the other, but I know quite a few people con actually can...
I would be interested to know whether it was a TV ad or just an poster-style image. I assume the former.
I think the word "frescura" is one that Spaniards are unlikely to apply to the beer itself (in terms of what it's like to drink); it's much more likely to refer to the image of the beer as conveyed in the ad. Beer ads in Spain don't dwell much on the flavour. Of course they show people drinking the stuff with pleasure. But they stress above all the idea that the people who drink this particular brand are young, fun, lively and having a great time: the kind of people you'd like to be and know. And a bit unconventional.
I don't think I could tell the leading brands apart on a blind tasting, but there's a lot of brand loyalty. Any self-respecting "progre" in the 80s, at the time of the movida in Madrid, always drank Mahou. It was a tribal thing; it signalled your allegiance.
I think most people are very used to seeing ads and are quite savvy about them. I find it implausible that if they were asked for an opinion on an ad they'd take it as a question about the product.
But in the end "fresh" is probably best. It might suggest cheeky, a bit unconventional, as I say.
Thanks, Ramon! I like your justification! Several people answered this way so it was no accident. Maybe the best translation (that would match the question well) in English is "it's fresh" - meaning both original and attractive (cool).
The asker is stating "people were asked what they liked about an AD for a beer." So we therefore must assume that the response is about the ad, not about the beer itself! (Unless, of course, you assume that the respondents did not read the question properly or were simply stupid.)
You can perfectly state: "La frescura del anuncio", not just "El anuncio es fresco". Actually, the first one is the most likely statement in Spain, the second would seem a little bit odd.
"What did you like most about the ad?" [That the beer image looks] refreshing This is what I understand from the Spanish text, considering your context. If they were describing the ad itself, they would have said "fresco", not "frescura".
I think they're talking about the beer. People don't care much about ads, but they can like the product. I cannot see how the word "frescura" could possibly apply to the ad; it has to apply to the beer.
In English, if I read: "What did you like most about the ad?" "Refreshing" I would understand this as a native speaker as meaning "original", given the question. It makes more sense to describe the beer as that. Maybe the people who answered didn't understand the question!
It's impossible for the client to know because it's a market research survey. Just to clarify, the question asked was: What did you particularly like about the ad for ....?