Ad of the Day: Duolingo creates exhibition of dodgy translations in Tokyo
The campaign sheds light on the art of mistranslations and says they are valuable lessons when learning a new language.
Language-learning app Duolingo has opened a ‘Museum of Wonky English’ in Harajuku, Tokyo, and is giving mundane phrases that have been mistranslated new and surprising meanings.
In one, viewers see a coffee pot with a sign next to it reading: “When coffee is gone, it’s over.”
As well as the in-person event and hero film, Duolingo is inviting people to share their own mistranslations on Twitter, with the best submissions being exhibited in the museum.
Andrés Aguilar, associate creative director at UltraSuperNew, said: “Why do mistakes have such a bad rep? They’re the unsung language-learning heroes, and we wanted this campaign to settle the scores. There’s a treasure trove of meanings you can only access when lost in translation, and that’s what we wanted people to experience in the Museum of Wonky English.”
Credits
Client: Duolingo
Japan country manager: Sho Mizutani
Vice-president of marketing: Manu Orssaud
Director of regional marketing, Asia: Haina Xiang
Creative director brand and marketing: James Kuczynski
Director of social media and influencer: Katherine Chan
Agency: UltraSuperNew
Group account director: Yumi Esposito-Pueblo
Group creative director: Francois Claverie
Associate creative directors: Andrés Aguilar and Oguzcan Kaganoguzbeyoglu
Copywriter: Nobuaki Nogamoto
Art director: Sayu Fujii
Designer: Belle Sim
Strategist: Isobel Walker
Producer: Alex Watanabe
Content planner: Kazuki Chito
UI/UX designer: Yerai Zamorano
Gallery coordinator: Alex Schmidt
Contributors: Jinshi Itomi and Asumi Yamayoshi
Production
Director: 古川原壮志 Takeshi Kogahara
DP: 石田遼 Ryo Ishida
Gaffer: 神山啓介 Keisuke Kamiyama
Art design: AKI
Sound: 尾居土祐大 Yuta Oido
Grading: 山田祐太 Yuta Yamada
Music: Tommy Zee
Producer: 大澤康久 Yas Osawa
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