Autocorrect gets a multicultural makeover because English isn't the only language we text in
A South African cider brand is making it easy to add words in other languages to the lackluster spell-checker
Editor's Pick
What the duck is happening? I hate this piece of shirt!
Even native English speakers have a tough time with autocorrect, that often-misguided spell-checker that turns cathartic swearing into a movie script edited for TBS. But try using any other language on a phone that isn’t specifically set up for it. Every other word gets a comical or nonsensical approximation that makes predictive text all but useless.
Now South African alcohol brand Savanna Cider is broadening autocorrect’s horizons. “Decolonise Autocorrect,” a campaign from Grey South Africa, packages up hundreds of common words in languages like Sotho and Xhosa commonly spoken in South Africa, a nation with 11 official languages.
Each language pack is saved as a contact file, which many phones automatically add to their dictionaries. So party information like “Ba bang batla” (Others are attending) doesn’t get turned into “Gang-bang the baklava.” It’s not that kind of party.
Do not let your festive party planning be ruined by autocorrect. #KeDezemba re ka hare, It’s time to #DecoloniseAutocorrect. Go to https://t.co/UxpMOXZhMR, save 500 of the most used Sotho words to your phone and send messages ka’SeSotho. #DecoloniseAutocorrect pic.twitter.com/mQQROFRcQu
— Savanna Cider (@SavannaCider) December 8, 2019
To illustrate the ridiculousness of some results, Savanna commissioned an auto-corrected version of the popular protest song “Shosholoza,” rendered here as “Shoulder odour.”
Credits
- Date
- Dec 12, 2019
- Client :
- Savanna Cider
- Agency :
- Grey South Africa
- Client Representative :
- Maija-Liina Hansen-Chipps
- Client Representative :
- Lazola Dali
- Client Representative :
- Eric Ngidi
- Client Representative :
- Natasha Maharaj
- Chief Creative Officer :
- Fran Luckin
- Executive Creative Director :
- Glenn Jeffery
- Creative Director :
- Steph van Niekerk
- Creative Director :
- Francois du Preez
- Art Director :
- Marais Janse Van Rensburg
- Copywriter :
- Maxine Twaddle
- Copywriter :
- Mkhuseli Radebe
- Copywriter :
- Sanele Ngubane
- Copywriter :
- Marais Janse Van Rensburg
- Copywriter :
- Steph van Niekerk
- Head of Production :
- Lara Bayley
- Head of Production :
- Linda Hauser
- Business Director :
- Jacqui Howard-Tripp
- Account Manager :
- Brett David
- Production Company :
- Produce Sound
- Digital Creative Director :
- Kristoff Smith
- UX :
- Kathrine Pelser
- UI Designer :
- Michael Williams
- Developer :
- Siyabonga Hlengwa
- SEO :
- Craig Wilson
- Data Analytics :
- Zaheer Adhikari
- Dev/Ops :
- Clemens Maart
- Project Manager :
- Leezl Kaschula
- Animator :
- Bohlale Radebe
- Animator :
- Francois Venter
- Audio :
- Louis Enslin
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