Linguistic Glocalization as a Promotional Strategy by Multi-National Fast-Food Chains: A Case Of Pakistan

Abstract

This research discusses that how international fast food chains use glocal strategies for promoting and localizing their brands in Pakistan. The major source, that these fast food chains use, is advertisements, and their focus is on the language of the target country. The purpose is to investigate the language of advertisements and how they use local language in special events of Pakistan, and thus promote their products through local language in advertisements. Qualitative research approach has been used for the analysis of advertisements and to answer the research questions. The concepts of universalizing and particularizing tendencies by Ronald (1980) and the theory of ‘Cultural Glocality’ by Fernandez (2009) with some modifications, have been used as a theoretical framework. For this purpose, top three international fast food chains such as, McDonald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut have been selected. All the advertisements fromJanuary 2021 to June 2021 have been collected for this research. Findings reveal that international fast food chains are more popular in Pakistan because of the language they use in their advertisements to attract and convey their message to their customers. After analyzing the data, it is concluded that the main glocal strategies are the use of the local language(s), code switching, use of location, use of cultural and religious events and language features, which they exhibit through their advertisements. By using local language, they promote their products and at the same time localize themselves in Pakistan.