Mr H2O
| | Joined: 10/31/2006
Msg: 1 | |
| | British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USAPage 1 of 2 (1, 2) | Over the past few months, I've noticed an irritating trend in American advertising
while watching various channels on cable television.
An ever increasing amount of TV ads feature an actor speaking with a British accent.
The other day at a drive up bank ATM machine in Warren, Michigan
the voice on the ATM machine even featured a British accent from the damn machine.
Social scientists estimate the number of U.S. dialects range
from a basic three - New England, Southern and Western/General America
upwards of 24 or more due to the loose definition of the term.
Why do American advertisers feel the need to add this new dimension to their advertising ?
I consider the United Kingdom a foreign country and wouldn't want products
pitched to me in the accents of the 193 other existing world countries !! | |
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Mr H2O
| | Joined: 10/31/2006
Msg: 2 | |
| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/17/2007 6:56:22 PM | The British are coming - where the hell have all the American actors gone ????
All British actors - TV Trends for the season
"House's" Hugh Laurie
"Without a Trace's" Marianne Jean-Baptiste
ABC's "Cashmere Mafia" Frances O'Connor and Julian Ovenden
ABC's "Eli Stone" Jonny Lee Miller
ABC's "Pushing Daisies" Anna Friel
Fox's "Canterbury's Law" Linus Roache
Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Lena Headey
CBS' "Cane" Polly Walker
NBC's "Journeyman" Kevin McKidd
NBC's "Life" Damian Lewis
etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 12:41:43 AM | I don't have any tv signal here and catch only the occasional bit at other peoples houses. I did see a commercial very recently for "whole grain cheerios" that had two brits. I though it was cute and better than the usual claptrap.
I don't understand why you yanks are miffed. Maybe you could ask them to put subtitles on them? | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 12:57:49 AM | I LOVE the British. I'm hoping my British boyfriend will save me and take me away from this country. Please! Don't give me 100s of reasons why I should stay in the United States. I can find happiness in the United Kingdom. I don't need to stay in the United States for a fullfilling life. And if my British boyfriend doesn't marry me like he said he would I don't ever have to date another male again. I will be happy to seek life in a convent.
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 1:24:38 AM | Maybe it's a snob thing. I've noticed a few educated americans talk with a slight british accent. Haven't you ever watched Frazier? All the nouveau riche aspire to sound British!
I've only been to the US once and I was amazed at how my accent was treated. I had longer hair at that time and when I went into Bergdorff Goodman in NYC they looked at me like I was something they'd trodden in. A supercilious assistant asked if he could help me but when he heard the accent he was falling over himself to help me. Likewise, just in shops and stuff people wanted to chat - and even I know that that's not the norm in New York!
Just face it, you Americans miss the old home country! | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 1:37:43 AM | Hey!! hello America... have you forgotten the original Founding Fathers came from Britain.  We have lots of american accents over here too! A lot of the children's toys speak with american accents, and there's lots of american programmes on tv.
Seriously isn't it rather nice to have cultural diversity? | |
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Rhett1
| | Joined: 10/16/2005
Msg: 8 | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 6:35:22 AM | | I find it funny that they get American actors to do English voices for Animations. For example New Yorker/Australian Mel Gibson as John Smith in Pocahontas and Mike Myers doing a Scottish accent in Shrek. They obviously don't like genuine English accents in some films so it's a good job English actors can get voiceovers in adverts. | |
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Mr H2O
| | Joined: 10/31/2006
Msg: 13 | |
| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 7:24:36 AM | I happen to be born, live and work in the USA.
I would expect to see and hear things with American sounding voices.
My parents are immigrants, but they don't expect to see commercials with German accents !!
When I visit Germany the last thing I expect is hear a commercial with a Brazilian accent, or _________ ( insert name here).
I don't see an influx of Dutch Afrikaans actors or any other particular country
that may happen to have a majority of "english" speaking people.
Would it be that they are difficult to understand for the common American in the USA ?
Personally I find it annoying -an unpleasant mental state that is characterized
by such effects as irritation and distraction from one's conscious thinking. | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 9:52:07 AM | A lot of the accents you will hear 'most likely' is not a true reflection of the british public. There are hundreds of regional varations, you can travel a few miles and get a diffrent one. It does appear that they do choose the genric sound, maybe it does stereotypes the british / english . Must be a marketable product.
By the way I do find it funny when an actor faking an english accent does get it wrong, probabely funny for you guys spotting a bristish faking it to. | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 1:23:29 PM | Some, like Dustin Hoffman and Gwyneth Paltrow do the posh English accents very well. I've never seen any American try a difficult regional accent like Liverpudlian, Geordie, Welsh or Lancastrian.
Sometimes it's laughable, on a par with****Van Dyke's****ney in Mary Poppins (which makes you want to consider sticking a knitting needle through both ears).
I always think that British actors generally do American ones quite well (Tim Roth for instance), but I might be wrong. | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 1:28:16 PM | Regarding Dutch Afrikaans actors doing American films, there is one that now only speaks with an American Accent - Charlize Theron.
Also, I've heard a number of interviews where Catherine Zeta Jones uses an American accent instead of her native Glamorgan, but that might be due to the supposed harshness of a South Wales accent to foreigners I suppose. | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 3:20:20 PM |
Which one? Brooklyn? San Antonio? Alabama? Redondo Beach? Now you'd really need subtitles.
So true... there are so many different accents in North America... so please define "American". | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 3:43:47 PM | I have noticed it also and I think advertisers think people will take them more seriously,I think it started with the Australian actor doing those infomercials in the 80's.
I have to admit I enjoy listening to BBC news more than that annoying Nancy Grace on Headline News. | |
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| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 3:48:29 PM |
I believe his parents are Liverpudlian, so we claim half of him
Which half?
I don't mind hearing different accents. I was a little taken aback by an Oreo biscuit ad that had Australian actors but it's just a 30 second spot. No biggie. It certainly makes you pay more attention since it's a way of speaking you're not normally accustomed to. | |
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Mr H2O
| | Joined: 10/31/2006
Msg: 24 | |
| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 4:31:33 PM | My version of American is a generic everyday speech.
Examples :
CBS 60 minutes news program
ABC Good Morning America
Professional television reporters learn to speak clearly and distinctly.
I don't like the amount of advertising on TV, especially when I'm paying for cable.
Advertising a show on the same damn channel I'm watching every 1o minutes "is" an advertisement itself.
When advertisers try even harder to capture my attention with accents , it just aggravates me .
A great show or ad doesn't need a gimmick like an accent.
It's written well, directed well, lighted well and most important acted well.
It stands on it's own.
I actually like a lot of foreign films, operas, etc. that aren't in english.
Linguistics is interesting to me, as is anthropology and history.
I think some of you may have missed my point.
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Genrae
| | Joined: 11/10/2006
Msg: 25 | |
| British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA
Posted: 6/18/2007 5:26:51 PM |
British Accents for TV Advertising here in the USA I've noticed this too, and have wondered about it... don't know what to say with regards to the why. I love wonderful accents as much as many, but that doesn't mean I need to hear them on all of the commercials every time I turn on my television.
I LOVE the British. I'm hoping my British boyfriend will save me and take me away from this country. Please! Don't give me 100s of reasons why I should stay in the United States. I can find happiness in the United Kingdom. I don't need to stay in the United States for a fullfilling life. And if my British boyfriend doesn't marry me like he said he would I don't ever have to date another male again. I will be happy to seek life in a convent. Why does ANYONE need to rescue you? Aren't you your own woman and take yourself where you want to go. I wouldn't dream of giving you ANY reasons why you should stay in the U.S., but I'll give you one good reason why you shouldn't stay... You're not happy here! You should go to where you can be happy.  | |
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