Why does Dutch advertising use “eerlijk” so much?
Eerlijke schermtijd en keuzestress in de keuken
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Picked for people who know a little
In Dutch advertising, eerlijk (“honest, fair”) is the most-used word. Eerlijk eten, eerlijk geld, eerlijke prijzen, eerlijk gezegd. The term carries the same currency that “authentic” or “real” do in English, and it’s stamped onto everything: yogurt cartons, kitchen-renovation slogans, life-insurance jingles, supermarket campaigns. Why? It piggybacks on a national self-image. Dutch culture leans hard on directness; calling your product eerlijk signals “we’re not lying to you” while also signaling “we’re like you.”
This Superkeukens (Dutch kitchen-chain) ad turns the word into a slogan. Eric admits his daily screen-time average. The pitch: kitchens described as “eerlijk, eerlijk.” Honest, twice. Just so we know.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Dutch listening practice video?
How common in written Dutch
How common in spoken Dutch
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-NL 2014 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Dutch supermarket and dairy branding (Albert Heijn 'Puur en Eerlijk', Optimel, Campina)
- ▸In Dutch home-renovation chain advertising (Superkeukens, Keukenmaxx, Karwei)
- ▸In Dutch advertising-trade press (Adformatie, MarketingTribune, Emerce)
- ▸In Dutch broadsheet ad-criticism columns (NRC, De Volkskrant, Trouw)