Back to the store . . . Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 30, 2017 in Vocabulary
… For a love story! Between the world wars (la grande et la deuxieme*), France saw the creation of three stores dedicated to providing convenience and savings to urban shoppers. All three offered products “for a single price” and their names played on that concept.
While all three evolved over the years, Monoprix (Mono-price), Uniprix (Uni-price), and Prisunic (a play on ‘prix unique’ – unique price) were all dedicated to low prices on a wide range of products, of the alimentary and elementary kind (think Walmart, or Target, if you’re familiar with those brands). Over the years, the doyen** of the bunch Monoprix acquired the other two, and is now the last one standing.
To celebrate 85 years in business, Monoprix has introduced a charming campaigne publicitaire (ad campaign) that harkens back to a simpler time, leveraging Monoprix packaging that incorporated des jeux de mots (word games, or puns).
There is no dialogue, but the following should help you follow along:
| En voilà un joli petit cœur | Well there’s a pretty little heart (‘un petit cœur’ is a type of coockie) |
| Tu me fais ‘crackers’ | You make me ‘crackers’ (The French expression ‘tu me fais craquer’ is a term of endearment akin to ‘I’m crazy for you’) |
| T’es l’ananas de ma vie | You’re the pineapple of my life (Most likely from ‘t’es l’amour de ma vie’ / ‘you’re the love of my life’ |
| Je te nem | I ‘spring roll’ you (A play on ‘je t’aime’ / ‘I love you,’ ‘des nems’ is French for ‘Chinese spring rolls’) |
| Prête pour une l’œuf story? | Ready for an ‘egg story’? (‘Ready for a love story?) |
| Cake tu m’as manqué ! | Cake I missed you ! (‘How I have missed you !’ from the French ‘Qu’est-ce-que tu m’as manqué!’)*** |
| [Vendu] | [Sold] |
| Lait drôle la vie | Milk funny life. (‘C’est drôle la vie’ / ‘Life is funny’) |
| Au cœur de votre vie | In the heart of your life |
| Au cœur de votre ville | In the heart of your city / town |
| Depuis 85 ans | For (since) 85 years |
But where it really gets interesting is … as a ‘kicker’, Monoprix produced a series of “alternate endings” that play off of other packaging puns including:
| Sauce qui peut! | (From the French ‘sauve qui peut!’ which literally means ‘save yourself if you can!’ but familiarly means ‘get out’, ‘save yourself’, or ‘run!’. |
| Tu peux me faire le mayo? | Can you make the mayonnaise? (From the French ‘tu peux me faire le maillot?’/ ‘maillot’ is the word for bathing suit, which here refers to a ‘bikini wax’!!! |
| Oh ! Citron mignon ! | Oh! Lemon cute! (From the French ‘oh! C’est trop mignon’ / ‘Oh! Too cute !’ |
| Attention à la peau lisse! |
Watch out for the smooth skin! (From the French ‘Attention à la police!’ / ‘Watch out for the police!’ |
* See here for a discussion of ‘deuxième’ vs. ‘seconde’.
** ‘doyen’ is a word that means ‘most senior’ or ‘oldest’, but in terms of ‘the first on the scene’ more than simply in terms of age.
*** Remember that the expression ‘to miss someone’ is tricky in French.
Image Credit: By Julien Paquin – Self-photographed, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34592671
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About the Author: Tim Hildreth
Since my first trip to France at 16, I have been a passionate francophile. I love the language, food, music, art, people, and more that make France and la Francophonie in general such an amazing part of our global community. Having lived in France and studied the language and culture for over 35 years, it is my great pleasure to be able to share a little bit of my deep love with you through this blog.