Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Japanese term or phrase:
イメージキャラクター
English translation:
'the face of ~'
Added to glossary by
KathyT
Jun 28, 2006 02:13
17 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Japanese term
イメージキャラクター
Japanese to English
Marketing
Advertising / Public Relations
企業などの放送コマーシャルやポスター媒体の広告モデルとして起用されるタレント・俳優・モデルらのことを「（商品名・または企業名）イメージキャラクター」といいますが、この「イメージキャラクター」に当たる英語はありますか？
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +4 | "the face of XYZ", 'mascot', "the poster boy/girl/child for XYZ" |
KathyT
|
| 5 +1 | image character or mascot |
Mark Kellner
|
| 2 | frontman for the brand image |
cinefil
|
Proposed translations
+4
7 mins
Selected
"the face of XYZ", 'mascot', "the poster boy/girl/child for XYZ"
some alternatives.
"Image character" is 和製英語, so don't go with that.
For a person such as an actor, I would suggest using "<name> is the face of <company>".
"mascot" is usually used for animals, such as the bear/rooster/whatever creatures that often represent sporting teams.
Other than that, a popular expression that is more colloquial is "poster boy/girl/child." You can use "boy" or "girl" even when the actor in question is an adult. So for example, "<name> is the poster boy for XYZ Cornflakes," etc.
For a formal business presentation though, I would recommend the first option.
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Note added at 13 mins (2006-06-28 02:26:40 GMT)
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Gwyneth Paltrow - Gwyneth Paltrow new face of Estee Lauder
Gwyneth Paltrow has replaced Elizabeth Hurley as the face of Estee Lauder. The Hollywood beauty has signed a £15million contract with the beauty giants to ...
www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/70522004.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages
David Beckham the new face of Motorola, News at CNET.co.uk
The England captain has signed up to promote the mobile phone company, beginning with an endorsement of the new red Moto Slvr, proceeds from which go to ...
news.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029694,49277598,00.htm - 37k - 26 Jun 2006 - Cached - Similar pages
bit-tech.net | Adriano is the face of Pro Evo 6
Brazilian legend Adriano is to be the face of the latest in the footie gaming series. Prepare to see his mug everywhere come this Autumn.
www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/06/13/Adriano_is_the_face_of_Pro... - 15k - 26 Jun 2006 - Cached - Similar pages
Vogue Stories
KEIRA IS THE FACE OF CHANEL. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY is the new face of Coco Mademoiselle. The rumours circulating the French fashion house for the last two months ...
www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=34784&date... - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
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Note added at 16 mins (2006-06-28 02:29:53 GMT)
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Here are some examples of usage for "poster boy/girl."
You will see that most of the people referred to are definitely not kids.
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=o...
"Image character" is 和製英語, so don't go with that.
For a person such as an actor, I would suggest using "<name> is the face of <company>".
"mascot" is usually used for animals, such as the bear/rooster/whatever creatures that often represent sporting teams.
Other than that, a popular expression that is more colloquial is "poster boy/girl/child." You can use "boy" or "girl" even when the actor in question is an adult. So for example, "<name> is the poster boy for XYZ Cornflakes," etc.
For a formal business presentation though, I would recommend the first option.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2006-06-28 02:26:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Gwyneth Paltrow - Gwyneth Paltrow new face of Estee Lauder
Gwyneth Paltrow has replaced Elizabeth Hurley as the face of Estee Lauder. The Hollywood beauty has signed a £15million contract with the beauty giants to ...
www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/70522004.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages
David Beckham the new face of Motorola, News at CNET.co.uk
The England captain has signed up to promote the mobile phone company, beginning with an endorsement of the new red Moto Slvr, proceeds from which go to ...
news.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029694,49277598,00.htm - 37k - 26 Jun 2006 - Cached - Similar pages
bit-tech.net | Adriano is the face of Pro Evo 6
Brazilian legend Adriano is to be the face of the latest in the footie gaming series. Prepare to see his mug everywhere come this Autumn.
www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/06/13/Adriano_is_the_face_of_Pro... - 15k - 26 Jun 2006 - Cached - Similar pages
Vogue Stories
KEIRA IS THE FACE OF CHANEL. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY is the new face of Coco Mademoiselle. The rumours circulating the French fashion house for the last two months ...
www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=34784&date... - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
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Note added at 16 mins (2006-06-28 02:29:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here are some examples of usage for "poster boy/girl."
You will see that most of the people referred to are definitely not kids.
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=o...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks. I think "the face" fits the best."
+1
4 mins
image character or mascot
I think that it's acceptable to translate this directly as "image character," but if you'd like to use an existing English gloss then I would suggest "mascot."
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Note added at 11 mins (2006-06-28 02:24:52 GMT)
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Here are Google image searches for “北京オリンピック イメージキャラター" and "chinese olympic mascot."
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&q=chinese olympic ma...
http://images.google.co.jp/images?svnum=10&hl=ja&lr=&q=北京オリン...
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Note added at 25 mins (2006-06-28 02:38:50 GMT)
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I agree with both Kathy and Kurt that "image character" is 和製英語, but depending on the context I think that it is acceptable to introduce Japanese words to the English vocabulary, even if they are Japanese words based on English, such as "Walkman." Another example: "JCB's 'image character,' or mascot, is Yuji Oda." Furthermore, I would limit its use to situations where its meaning is uniquely Japanese.
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Note added at 11 mins (2006-06-28 02:24:52 GMT)
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Here are Google image searches for “北京オリンピック イメージキャラター" and "chinese olympic mascot."
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&q=chinese olympic ma...
http://images.google.co.jp/images?svnum=10&hl=ja&lr=&q=北京オリン...
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Note added at 25 mins (2006-06-28 02:38:50 GMT)
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I agree with both Kathy and Kurt that "image character" is 和製英語, but depending on the context I think that it is acceptable to introduce Japanese words to the English vocabulary, even if they are Japanese words based on English, such as "Walkman." Another example: "JCB's 'image character,' or mascot, is Yuji Oda." Furthermore, I would limit its use to situations where its meaning is uniquely Japanese.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kurt Hammond
: 'Image character' is Japlish. English is "mascot." Google search for "image character" with quotes turns up nothing relevant unless you add ".jp" to search poorly translated sites: http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=en&q="image character" .jp
8 mins
|
| neutral |
Mary Murata
: I agree with Kurt, image character isn't English.
4 hrs
|
1 day 5 hrs
frontman for the brand image
an alternative
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