The Challenges of Translating Advertisements and Slogans

The paper studies translations of advertisements based on the strategies used for translating advertisements and slogans. All the advertisements were translated or adapted from English into Croatian, and analysed according to a set of strategies, which are often used in the translation of advertisements. The set of strategies that is presented in the paper was made through a close examination of relevant literature in the field of advertising and translation. The main source of data for comparison was the Internet, and the translators remain unknown. The name of the translator was listed in only one of the analysed advertisements, so it is not possible to speculate about their competence or professionalism. Still, according to their translations, the similarity between the original and target text, and the objectives that are set for all advertisements, some conclusions were drawn about the quality of those translations. The advertisements were specifically chosen for different products and services that were translated in different ways, to explain the variety of translation strategies and the challenges that translators face while adapting those advertisements to the Croatian market.