Forgetting their English

Berlin

International brands have begun using German slogans in Germany, rather than the hip English phrases they long preferred, the Institute for German Language said this week. McDonald’s, for example, recently replaced its longtime slogan, “Every time a good time,” with “Ich lieb’ es” (“I’m lovin’ it”) after it determined that customers couldn’t understand the old phrase. Mitsubishi dropped its tag line, “Drive alive,” when a study found that most Germans misinterpreted the phrase as an admonishment to wear seat belts. “A much smaller percentage of people in Germany speak English than is generally assumed,” said the institute’s Tobias Mindner.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up