¿Tienes leche?
How do you say “Got Milk?” in español?
That’s the title of an article by Cythia Gorman appearing in the New York Times magazine. It’s about John Gallegos and his ad agency in Long Beach. It’s about bilingualism and the Hispanic market. It’s about changing demographics all across the United States.
There are a number of things that caught my eye about this article, beginning with the title.
How do you say “Got Milk?” in Spanish?
You can’t say ¿Tienes Leche? That would be an albúr. I’ll get into exactly what an albúr is in a later entry. Let’s just say ¿Tienes Leche? may not mean what it appears to mean, and not necessarily for the reason Gorman gives in the article.
Gallegos’s agency decided to use Toma leche. Sure, it’s short and to the point. It may even be considered effective. But it’s also boring. It does nothing to inspire, invite or intimidate.
Gorman discusses one of the most celebrated ads in the “Got Milk?” campaign and its probable effect in the Latino community:
In one of the most celebrated of the “Got Milk?” ads, a history buff who knows the name of Alexander Hamilton’s killer grabs the phone to answer a radio quiz question and win a load of money, but he can’t make himself understood because his mouth is jammed up with peanut-butter sandwich and he’s completely out of milk.
But this would have been a gross misfire in Spanish — and not simply because an El Salvadorean immigrant, for example, is probably unfamiliar with both Aaron Burr and peanut-butter sandwiches. The whole theme was wrong, especially for people who have abandoned their home countries to migrate hundreds of miles north for work. “There’s already enough deprivation,” Oubiña told me. “It wasn’t funny.”
So there you have it. In order to really translate “Got Milk?,” You’ve got to translate culture and collective consciousness. Not an easy task. I’ve been asking around. The answer I like best so far is: Leche. Éntrale.
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