OOPS! : Writers Say Oui to Bad Grammar
Promotion writers at Marshall Field & Co. really passed French 101, despite the headline on the cover of this year’s Christmas catalog.
Field’s spokeswoman Kassie Davis said today that staffers in the advertising department actually discussed whether to use the grammatically correct “Le Beau Noel” on the cover or the incorrect but catchy “La Belle Noel.”
Catchy won.
“The reason we did it is because it rhymes,” Davis said. “We know the correct French version. We did it because it was a promotion. We did it on purpose. We thought it would be a little more catchy if it had a jingle.”
The headline translates as “the beautiful Christmas.” In French, “noel” is a masculine noun. The description “la belle” is reserved for nouns of the female persuasion.
No customers have complained about the fractured French.
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