Pidgin and Creole in Advertising and Marketing

Abstract

The title of this paper is ‘Pidgin and Creole in advertising and marketing’ in Nigeria. The data for analyses was elicited through recording, transcribing, and translating. The focus of this study is the inconsistencies in spellings and choice of words, which leads to frustration and ambiguities as observed by the target audience in the adverts. Considering the serious nature of the messages they intend to pass across and the cost incurred in designing and airing the adverts, one is worried why a little bit of imagination, creativity and seriousness is not applied in the crafting of the advertisements. We are aware that standard pidgin orthography exists which conforms to the principle of good orthography; organizations and individuals seeking to develop adverts or broadcast in pidgin should consult this document for consistency. Nigerian Pidgin English is already an unauthorized lingua franca; therefore, all efforts should be on the deck to standardize it. We have presented some adverts done in pidgin, analysed them to evince their inadequacies, ambiguities, conflicting messages, poor effects, and argue that although many people are often easily carried along with adverts in pidgin, the message is essentially lost ab initio. Pidgin and creole can only be used nationally, meaning they cannot communicate internationally, or even with neighbouring countries. For this reason, adverts cannot be done in pidgin and creole with the intention of getting international patronage. They are often viewed as low class, grammatically incorrect, and with no well-structured syntax or phonology, so adverts done in pidgin and creole are often selective. Hence, if the customers are those from the upper class, an advert in pidgin or creole is a wrong move.