English in advertising in Brazil

Years ago, I conducted a study of English in advertising in Brazil (Friedrich, 2002) and wrote about the possible sociolinguistic motivations for such practice. At the time, I was able to confirm that there was a significant presence of English in names of shops and other brands, that many advertisements contained text in English (especially in the secondary text). Brazilians also used English creatively, adapting the language to local needs and modifying words (through suffixation, clipping, and so on) to make them more local (Diniz de Figueiredo, 2010). In the fifteen plus years since that study, much has happened in Brazil, including a presidential impeachment and extensive investigations into corruption. Urban violence remains a great challenge. The country has in some regards embraced being more globalized, and in others has become prouder and more aware of its own cultural manifestations. At the same time, great strides have been made in technological development and other areas of knowledge and action. In this article, I look back at the findings of the original 2002 investigation and discuss—in light of the five possible, original theoretical explanations for the use of English in advertising synthesized there—what may have changed and what remains the same in this realm of language use. I further examine literature in related areas and what insights in relation to world Englishes can be drawn from this context.