在一片喜气洋洋的节日氛围中，中国农历新年终于来啦。近些年来，中国国内市场潜力不断扩大，春节作为中国最重要的传统节日，自然吸引了各大国际品牌的关注。
为了庆祝2019己亥年，在早些时候，各大品牌就已厉兵秣马，整装待发。意大利时装品牌古驰 (Gucci) 推出中国新年猪系列，以迪士尼动画片《三只小猪》中憨态可掬的小猪作为主题图案。美国高端时尚品牌 Coach，也紧紧围绕生肖猪，推出了镶嵌有水晶的小猪挂件。除了奢侈品牌，其他服饰品牌也是毫不掩饰其对中国生肖的喜爱，耐克公司发布了限量版的中国新年（CNY）系列，将所有12个生肖的图案统一运用到他们的经典设计上。
可是这些设计能否赢得中国消费者的欢心呢？各大国际品牌如何才能蹭好中国新年这一波热度呢？或许，像 Mat 老师一样真正融入中国文化，感受中国风土人情，才可能会有更意外的收获吧。
本篇课程首发于2019年2月4日
It Is Soon to Be the Year of the Pig and Brands Are Taking Note
① In anticipation of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 5, Gucci the Italian luxury brand has released a 35-piece swine-themed collection, emblazoned with imagery from the well-known Disney cartoon, Three Little Pigs.
② The 35-piece collection ranges from $250 for socks to $1980 for a tote bag. Other leading fashion brands like Coach are also jumping on the pig theme with a jewelled pig charm to hang from your bag.
③ Every year around this time, a handful of watch brands unveil items that celebrate the Chinese New Year.
④ This year the watchmaker Chopard are offering their Year of the Pig special 18 karat gold timepiece as a limited edition with only 88 available. It's not cheap at 25,000 USD.
⑤ It's not only the luxury brands who are going all piggy. Nike are releasing a limited-edition Chinese New Year collection that unifies patterns symbolic of all 12 signs onto their classic designs.
⑥ Not wanting to miss the party, Vans are celebrating the Year of the Pig with a line-up of exclusive footwear.
⑦ Their "Year of the Pig" collection ironically emphasizes a "Laid Back, Not Lazy" motto, adding the slogan "The Fat Year" on the soles of the shoes (which roughly translates as 'bumper harvest').
⑧ Now is great time to go shopping and dress like a pig.
▍生词好句
anticipation /ænˌtɪsəˈpeɪʃən/: n. 希望；预感
emblazon /ɪmˈbleɪzən/: vt. 用纹章装饰
toteBag/təʊt, toʊt/: 手提袋
charm /tʃɑːm, tʃɑːrm/: n. 一种戴在链子上的小物件，尤指用金或银制成的。
karat /ˈkærət,ˈkerət/: n. 开（黄金成色单位）；克拉（宝石的重量单位，等于carat）
timepiece /ˈtaɪmpiːs, ˈtaɪmpiːs/: n. 钟等各种计时器
exclusive /ɪkˈskluːsɪv, ɪkˈskluːsɪv/ adj. 独有的；排外的；专一的
sole/səʊl, soʊl/ n. 鞋底；脚底
bumper /ˈbʌmpə, ˈbʌmpər/: adj. 丰盛的；丰富的
▍词汇拓展
1. to take note of something: to give your attention to something, especially because it is important or because you see that something as important
2. in anticipation of: expecting something to happen/arrive soon; waiting for something to happen (usually in quite an exciting way)
He bought extra food in anticipation of the big family Spring Festival dinner.
他屯了充足的食物来准备全家团圆的春节年夜饭。
I've decorated the house with red lanterns in anticipation of Spring Festival.
为了迎接春节，我用红灯笼装饰了房子。
We are waiting for midnight tonight in anticipation of the fireworks.
我们期待着午夜时烟花的燃放。
3. swine: another word for a pig (quite old-fashioned word; we don’t use it very much these days)
It's wonderful! Everywhere you look now. You can see pig-themed decorations in anticipation of Chinese New Year.
太美妙了！你现在到处都可以看到，人们用生肖猪主题的装饰品来迎接中国新年的到来。
4. emblazoned: if something is emblazoned with a picture, words, or letters, then they are clearly drawn, printed, sewn on or shown on these things.
I'm wearing socks emblazoned with little dancing pigs.
我穿着印有跳舞小猪图案的袜子。
The door of my apartment is emblazoned with red decorations in anticipation of Chinese New Year.
我公寓的门上挂着红色的装饰品，以迎接新年的到来。
At this time of year, many products are emblazoned with special pig-themed designs in anticipation of Chinese New Year.
在每年的这个时候，许多产品都印有特殊的猪主题图案，以迎接中国新年的到来。
5. to jump on a theme: to follow others / to follow the same theme or do similar things that others are doing
In anticipation of Chinese New year, many companies are jumping on the pig theme – they are launching products emblazoned with little pigs.
为了迎接中国的新年，许多公司都在以生肖猪为主题，推出带有小猪的产品。
6. unveil: if you unveil something then that thing was a secret before but now you let everyone see it or know about it
Companies in China are unveiling special pig-themed products in anticipation of Chinese New year.
为了迎接中国新年的到来，中国的公司正在推出猪主题的特色产品。
CCTV will not unveil the details of the Special New Year's eve TV Gala until it is broadcast. They want to keep it a big surprise for all the viewers.
中央电视台在播出春晚之前不会透露相关细节，他们想给所有的观众一个很大的惊喜。
7. timepiece: another word for a watch
be going all piggy(slang) – it means 'using lots of pig designs'
8. miss the party: if you 'miss the party', you arrive too late for something; you do something too late
Starbucks launched a special year of the pig VIP card but they kind of missed the party because it wasn't available until after New Year's Eve.
星巴克推出了一个特殊的猪年VIP卡，但他们错过了时机，因为它是在除夕夜之后才发行的。
9. ironically: different to what we expect / do something in a humorous, funny, curious, or surprising way
'The Fat Year': bumper harvest (a harvest when lots of crops grow; more crops than usual)
10. Elements of Spring festival that are similar to Christmas
a. Family / staying at home with relatives (seeing relatives who you haven't seen for a long time / distant relatives / visiting homes mutually– just like Christmas)
b. Food / lots of eating – just like Christmas (eating too much – putting on weight)
British Christmas snacks are probably more unhealthy – lots of sugary foods and lots of chocolate - but generally this is the same – staying at home and eating lots of snacks between meals.
c. Playing games – Majiang (Mahjong) – British don’t play Majiang but we play board games with relatives
d. Migration of so many people from large cities travelling back to their family home. In China it happens on a huge scale – millions and millions of people travelling home – usually by train (this is often shown on BBC news in the UK)
In the UK, we also do this, but it’s not the same. British population is much smaller so the numbers are smaller and because the country is much geographically smaller, people don’t usually travel by train (the train system in the UK is quite inefficient so most people prefer to drive – the country is small so driving is quite practical). In the two days before Christmas the roads will be quite busy with people travelling home to their parents' houses.
BUT … there is another difference here, in the UK, people don't live that far from their parents; in China, it's quite common for young adults to live in cities very far from their hometown. So in the UK, travelling home might just be a 30- minute drive. Our journey home at Christmas are much shorter.
e. Red decorations – lots of red decorations hanging up in the streets –lanterns and lights – this is a bit like Christmas (there are lots and lots of red lights everywhere)
11. There are some things that we find a bit weird about Spring festival
a. The shut-down. In the UK, over Christmas, most shops and restaurants and pubs will be closed for one day only and they open next day. In China, during festival, almost everything is closed for weeks, sometimes a month.
b. Watching TV – Spring festival gala
language barrier – comedy and humor (difficult for me to understand) and it's so long
c. Fireworks (loud and crazy)
▍责任编辑
武志琳、李焕
▍内容校对
章晓丹