Click to watch Fiat 500 Seduction

This high-trending viral ad for the Fiat 500 Abarth needs absolutely no translation, even though the monologue is in Italian. The target demographic is very clearly boys.  Entitled “You’ll never forget the first time you see one “, the ad plays on every heterosexual young man’s fantasy, and probably the nostalgic older man’s as well.

The buzz started mid-week on 14th November, peaking on the 17th but not tailing off until the weekend. What is really interesting is how this buzz was reflected in language, as can be seen in this graphic.

Not surprisingly, the Italians  picked it up quite quickly, but there was also sizeable interest in Romania and Spain. While these two countries share Latin as a common language root, I  doubt whether language was the basis of the appeal. Indeed, as it turns out, the model/actress is actually Romanian – Catrinel Menghia.  Maybe she’s famous in Spain as well?

According to PRNewswire, “this digital spot made its debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show to hundreds of journalists and then was posted to the FIAT brand’s YouTube site. Without having ever been aired on television or cable networks, it has rapidly spread through the web and gained global attention.”

Fiat 500 Abarth – Seduction

If you want to know what she’s saying, see below, but in my opinion subtitling or a voice-over on this ad would be doubly redundant, although I notice the blogosphere was quickly filled with people (guys) asking what she was saying –  Oye vay!

“What are you looking at? Huh!? What are you looking at?! Are you undressing me with your eyes? Poor guy… you cannot help it? Is your heart beating? Is your head spinning? Do you feel lost thinking that I could be yours forever?”

Actually, the car does look rather better in the flesh than it appears in this photograph, but then again, the objective of the ad is to sell the cachet now and the car later.

Clearly, retaining the Italian without subtitles can work for Western Europe and probably most Latin countries. However, for markets like China, Japan, Russia and the Gulf, some sensitive and creative subtitling will be necessary. But even in these markets, the whole Italian character of the brand would be lost without the Italian voice and gestures.  Even if the actress is Romanian.