It's been in all the papers, been on the news and CNN, and has spawned countless debates, as well as some t-shirts... yup, I'm taking about PASTA.
photo by The Gazette
Last week, after hearing about Quebec's language watchdog and the controversy boiled over regarding its attempt to change the menu at Montreal's Italian eatery Buonanotte restaurant (PASTA apparently not being an acceptable bilingual term to showcase on a Montreal menu). We decided to contact Buona Notte and create a t-shirt design for them. So we whipped-up the design below, and called them up. Needless to say, the 'love for PASTA' has since gone viral. Buona Notte has since ordered 200 shirts from us, to meet the demand. That first picture we uploaded to Facebook has had over 36 000 views as well as 310 shares, and we've since seen several other 'I love Pasta' t-shirts pop-up in Montreal.
The severity of having english signs without the french translation is nothing new to Montrealers, but do international terms and decorative signs really cause a problem? Or is the language police (OQLF) going too far? Whatever the case, the owners of Buona Notte Restaurant can't be to disappointed with several days worth of media coverage and their new "J'aime Pasta" T-shirts! Enjoy!