English packaging consulting
to avoid getting lost in translation
English is the most used language in the world, with 1.5 billion speakers, and using English on your product packaging can increase sales to those English speakers traveling abroad, especially when your product might not be immediately recognizable to them.
But it’s important that the English on your packaging is correct, that it’s not confusing or misleading English-speaking consumers. For example:
The product above appears to be an oat-based drink, and the word “tasty” is perfectly straightforward. The word “wiener” is not, which, for American English speakers, usually denotes a hot dog made from processed meat.
Delicious round flavor?
Through popular movies, Americans have exported their version of English, along with its colloquialisms and slang, and many non-native English speakers have adopted this version of the language. In American English, flavors just aren’t described using the adjective “round,” a term meaning curved or spherical. Depending on the intent of those promoting the product, preferable alternatives might be “well-rounded,” “robust,” or even “smooth.”
Although they’re similar terms, “round” does not have the same meaning as “well rounded,” and understanding such linguistic details requires a native English speaker familiar with American trends and usage.
The shampoo on the left is currently being sold in Denmark with the wording “Hyaluron Plump.” The American version of this shampoo reads “Hyaluron + Pure” and the word “plump” is not normally used in English to describe either hair or the chemicals used in shampoo. Neither is “plump” a word meaning “pure” in Danish. It may be attempting to convey “volumizing,” which is an English term specifically used on haircare products, but the actual meaning of “plump” here is unclear and confusing for English consumers.
Confusing your customers is never good for sales.
Additionally, the phrase “moisture filling” on the bottle at left is clumsy in its attempt to convey “rehydrating” or “moisturizing.” Clumsy language conveys an overall lack of expertise and fails to inspire confidence in your product.
What about AI?
Using AI to translate other languages into modern English is a crap shoot, and explains why we see so many of these errors on packaging and websites. I often use AI, myself, when working with Latin texts, and the translations have to be run several times (you often get different results) that I can amalgamate into something close to what the text actually means. It’s also necessary to use several different online Latin dictionaries powered by AI to even come close to something workable.
I’m an American living in Europe with a degree in both English and linguistics. I’ve worked as a technical editor for AT&T, a copywriter for the Denver-based marketing firm Arnold Media, and as a freelance editor serving authors, court reporters, and the former advertising firm of D’Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles. Beyond all that, I’m also an award-winning poet, a “textual mimic,” and a novelist, able to express a wide linguistic range and to craft marketing texts that pop.
I have a heart for small businesses and my pricing is transparent:
— $400 US, a flat rate to discuss, via email, the message and tone you’d like your product to convey in English and in what ways your product might be missing the mark; this price includes any recommendations, re-writes, or edits of the packaging text. For larger projects, my rates are both negotiable and affordable for smaller businesses (and practically negligible for larger firms).
To consult with me, please send 400 US$ (include your email address) to paypal.me/mcpeakpetersen and I will respond via email within 24 hours.
(I live in the Central European Time Zone [UTC + 1].)
Please note that my legal surname is “Herman” in the U.S., which is only important if you’re sending funds to my PayPal account.
Thanks for visiting my consulting page! Scroll down to see a collection of examples of faulty English used by companies both large and small:
Here, IKEA has simply misspelled “tuned,” but in American English it would be more appropriate to say, “please leave this tab / screen open” rather than “stay tuned” to the screen.