第2885期: Selling nostalgia

We ask… What do the US National Turkey Federation, Spanish grape growers, French wine producers and the British Milk Marketing Board all have in common? The answer is they have all used clever marketing to make us buy things because we think it's traditional to do so. But in actual fact, it's just the result of modern advertising campaigns. If we start first of all, then, Richard, with the French wine producers.

我们要问的是……美国国家火鸡联合会、西班牙的葡萄种植者、法国的葡萄酒生产商以及英国牛奶营销委员会，这些机构有什么共同点？答案是：他们都运用了巧妙的营销手段，让我们因为“以为这是传统”而去购买某些东西。但事实上，这些所谓的传统，只是现代广告宣传活动的结果。那么，理查德，我们先从法国的葡萄酒生产商说起吧。

Yes, there's an area of France, Beaujolais, they produced the first wine after the season's finished. That particular wine, that Beaujolais, became very popular with the Parisians, didn't it? Yes, but the key moment was in 1985 when they chose the third Thursday in November as the first day this wine could be drunk, the first wine in France to be drunk for that season. Yes, Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

是的，法国有一个地方叫博若莱，那里的酒庄会在当季结束后酿造出第一批葡萄酒。这种酒——博若莱葡萄酒——在巴黎人当中变得非常受欢迎，对吧？是的，但关键的时刻是在1985年，当时他们把11月的第三个星期四定为这种酒可以正式开喝的第一天，也就是当季法国第一款可以饮用的葡萄酒。没错，这一天就是“博若莱新酒节”。

So the French wine producers, they went out of their way to really promote it as the wine to be drunk on that day. And there was a race to get it into London and who was going to drink the first bottle of that year's Beaujolais. Yes, and now millions of bottles are produced and sold each year.

因此，法国的葡萄酒生产商不遗余力地把它宣传成“那一天一定要喝的酒”。甚至还出现了谁能最快把酒运到伦敦、谁能喝到当年第一瓶博若莱新酒的竞赛。是的，如今每年都有数百万瓶博若莱新酒被生产并售出。

Now, it's interesting because in the United States, it's promoted as the drink for Thanksgiving, which conveniently falls one week after Beaujolais Nouveau Day. The Thanksgiving originally, well, it's supposed to celebrate the early settlers in America in the 17th century. Yes.

有意思的是，在美国，它又被宣传成感恩节的应景饮品，而感恩节恰好在博若莱新酒节之后的一周。感恩节最初呢，据说是为了纪念17世纪来到美洲的早期移民。是的。

And people think traditionally you've got to eat turkey and pumpkin pie. But actually Thanksgiving first became a national holiday in the US in the 19th century, which is when turkey and pumpkin pie were beginning to become quite popular. But it didn't really become as the thing to eat on Thanksgiving until the mid-20th century.

人们普遍认为，按照传统，感恩节就一定要吃火鸡和南瓜派。但事实上，感恩节是在19世纪才成为美国的全国性节日，而那正是火鸡和南瓜派开始流行的时期。不过，它们真正成为“感恩节必吃食物”，其实要到20世纪中叶才算定型。

Yes, that's because new methods of intensive farming allowed the turkey industry to produce huge amounts of cheap turkey. And that's when the US National Turkey Federation, they made turkey the thing to eat for Thanksgiving. Yes, turkey wasn't eaten 400 years ago, nor was pumpkin pie.

是的，这是因为集约化养殖的新方法，使火鸡产业能够大量生产价格低廉的火鸡。也正是在那个时候，美国国家火鸡联合会把火鸡塑造成感恩节必吃的食物。没错，400年前人们既不吃火鸡，也不吃南瓜派。

OK, Richard, what about the Spanish grape growers? Well, in Spain, the arrival of the new year is traditionally welcomed with a glass of Which is a kind of Spanish version of champagne. And 12 grapes. Now, that doesn't hark back to any pagan or ancestral festivity in Spain.

好吧，理查德，那西班牙的葡萄种植者又是怎么回事呢？嗯，在西班牙，人们传统上会用一杯（卡瓦酒，一种西班牙版的香槟）和12颗葡萄来迎接新年的到来。而这种做法，并不源自西班牙任何古老的异教或祖先节庆。

But again, it's the skilful marketing campaign. Yes, since just the beginning of the 20th century, Alicante, a big grape-producing area, had a bumper harvest and they just found a creative way to sell off their surplus. And now it's become an ancient tradition.

但同样，这又是一次高明的营销活动。是的，在20世纪初，作为重要葡萄产区的阿利坎特迎来了大丰收，于是他们想出了一个有创意的方式来消化多余的葡萄。结果，这个做法如今被当成了一项“古老传统”。

OK, finally, Richard, go into any pub in the UK and you'll probably be able to buy a cold meal called a ploughman's lunch. Yes, it's basically a salad made with bread and mainly cheese. However, the specific term, the ploughman's lunch, is believed only to date back to the 1950s.

好，最后一个例子，理查德。走进英国的任何一家酒吧，你大概都能点到一种叫“农夫午餐”的冷餐。是的，它基本上就是由面包和主要是奶酪组成的一份沙拉。不过，“农夫午餐”这个具体名称，被认为只追溯到20世纪50年代。

When cheese was no longer rationed, the meal was promoted in pubs by the milk marketing board as a way to increase their sales. Quite a snappy title, the ploughman's lunch. Again, it's modern marketing and it's become a tradition.

当奶酪不再实行配给制度之后，这种餐食被牛奶营销委员会在酒吧中大力推广，用来提高销量。“农夫午餐”这个名字也相当朗朗上口。再一次，这是现代营销的产物，却最终变成了一种传统。