Steape's online campaign demonstrates being lost in translation

August 10, 2007 –The intrepid Steape cartoon monkey, VIC, once again goes on an adventure abroad. This time VIC is on a quest to demonstrate to travellers the often hilarious - and sometimes disastrous - consequences of not using the Steape Travel translator in a foreign country. The game can be found at vic.steape.com.

The viral campaign, titled “Shuh voodray err…” invites players to 'help VIC talk his way through an evening of French cuisine’ by selecting his dinner attire, date, music and food. As VIC doesn’t speak French, the results are not quite what he – nor the player – expects.

Dimme van der Hout, Head Monkey, at Monkeybizniz, the creators of the campaign, comments: "When people don’t speak the same language miscommunication is inevitable. The online campaign uses the powers of animation, interaction and sound to generate that feeling of surprise and helplessness at not being able to articulate what you want in a foreign language.”

Throughout the animation, viewers witness various elements of surprise and hilarity centred on miscommunication. The closing scene, with the warning “School French can damage your health”, can be sent to friends and colleagues as an electronic postcard - further stimulating interaction and communication between people.

Marc van Bommel, CEO of Steape, comments: "Travellers are far more likely to enjoy their trip if they can communicate with the locals - but there’s only so much you can say with hand-signals. This is the beauty of Steape – travellers can effortlessly communicate in one of 17 languages using a simple application downloaded onto their mobile phone”.

Steape’s talking phrase books for mobile phones are available in the UK, USA and the Netherlands via the company website. The translators are available in 17 languages and 272 language combinations. The phrases have both text and sound, meaning that users do not need to struggle with difficult pronunciation. The voices recorded by native speakers are played back via the phone's speaker. Three products are available: the Mini-Speaking Dictionary, Steape Travel and Steape Knowledge.

Helen Worswick
WordAffairs
Willemsparkweg 114
1070HN, Amsterdam
The Netherlands
+31 (0)6 1350 1570
info@wordaffairs.com

About Steape
Steape sells mobile phone applications related to translation and travel. Steape provides brand owners with unique marketing opportunities and additional revenue streams by creating tailor-made applications. For more information, please visit the company website at http://www.steape.com or contact info@steape.com.

This release was published on openPR.