Skip to content

Province's French ad delivers wrong message - Crystal Dupuis

Driving behind a city bus on Paris Street recently, I took the time to read the advertisement across the backend. A French advertisement promoted the prevention of alcohol use during pregnancy.
Driving behind a city bus on Paris Street recently, I took the time to read the advertisement across the backend.

A French advertisement promoted the prevention of alcohol use during pregnancy. The message printed across it in bold was: pourqoi risquer?

Anyone who can read or write in French knows that a "u" follows the "q" in the word pourquoi.

How was this missed by designers and editors?

This being a provincial advertisement, (at least the word Ontario was clear and correctly spelled) one would think that more care would be given to such matters as spelling especially in French as the province tries so hard to promote bilingualism. I wonder just how many of these pourqoi risquer signs are circulating across the province showing just how bilingual we really are.

Crystal Dupuis
Sudbury