Indirect translation in advertising: the case of Estrella Damm

Abstract

The Catalan brand Estrella Damm (a beer produced in Barcelona) is very popular for its summer advertisements. The ‘Mediterràniament’ commercials (2009–2021) reinforce the Mediterranean culture through its people, gastronomy and landscape. Estrella Damm commercials are produced in Catalan and Spanish, and some are produced in Catalan, then translated into Spanish, and finally subtitled in English, since Estrella beer is sold internationally. This paper examines how indirect translation (Catalan, Spanish, English) has been used in Estrella Damm ‘Mediterràniament’ advertising campaign through textual analysis of commercials and through interviews to the translators who created the Estrella Damm international versions from mediating texts. In indirect translation involving related languages, each version can affect one another: creative options for one text in Catalan can be adopted in the Spanish version, which may also influence the final English version. Therefore, translation for advertising in bilingual contexts contributes to visibilizing mediating languages and versions.