Littlewoods Direct use Esperanto in TV advert … or do they?
There’s been a bit of excitement in Esperantujo over the past few days 
The Metro newspaper reported on Monday morning that the catalogue company Littlewoods Direct have chosen to use Esperanto as part of their latest advertising campaign. The TV advert, which takes place on a desert island, will feature the natives speaking in Esperanto. The company have been quoted as saying that whilst they appreciate that most people will not understand what is being said, they chose the language because they feel it reflected the beauty and elegance of their clothes.
Meanwhile, British Esperantists have been somewhat confused. It seems that no one was aware of Littlewoods’ plans, and as more details have come to light it appears that the phrases used in the campaign may bear little resemblence to the language as we know it. EAB president John Wells has reported on his blog this morning that the Esperanto is at best doubtful. Check out his post for a youtube clip of the advert which has now been mysteriously withdrawn 
Other EAB members have been busy talking to the media too. David Kelso has done an interview with the BBC, which you can read here. Have a look and leave a comment if the fancy takes you, but pleeeease not an Espervangelist one 
Some say that any publicity is good publicity and it’s cool that the BBC and other companies are prepared to cover this story and raise awareness of Esperanto in Britain, but let’s not spoil the good coverage the language is getting by coming across like a bunch of weirdos
Tags: advert, BBC, Littlewoods
July 16th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Totally good stuff!
I love the new creation of the word “Espervanaglist.” :roll:
I have concern however that the EAB hierarchy do not sufficiently engage JEB in its publicity efforts.
NOT COMPLAINING JUST EXPLAINING!
If you’ve any suggestions on how to sort this, let me know!
Brian
July 17th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Just to add that a far better article with a full listing of all the media references in relation to Esperanto and this story can be found here at the EAB website
July 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I think I’ll take the credit for that one, though it’s actually supposed to be an insult
It’s one step below an Esptremist 
It might come across like that, but I don’t think the reality is the same. I was invited on to their publicity panel, and individuals from EAB get in touch with me and others privately to ask for help and ideas. They’ve been generous in paying printing costs and allowing JEB-produced items to be the main hand-outs on such things as the Language Show, and the most visible members of JEB have good relationships with ManCom anyway.
I think that if we were to come up with some revolutionary new publicity idea, we wouldn’t have a problem gaining ManCom’s backing.
Nice to see a familiar face visiting, Brian
Do pop around the forums if you’re interested 
July 17th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Brian:
I’ve taken the liberty of removing your email address. This is because I doubt you want bots to harvest it and flood you with spam.
If people want to contact you, they can click on your name and get taken to the Lobby site.
Alternatively, if you honestly don’t mind the spambots taking your address and throwing tonnes of junk at it, by all means edit your post and put it back in
(If this isn’t possible, let me know and I’ll put it in myself 
)