# Shampoo labels in French? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027 "2001-04-23T18:47:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deanomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@Deanomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanomon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/1 "2001-04-23T18:47:12Z")
Why are most hair products and other cosmetic items labeled in both French and English even when the product was manufactured and distributed in the US? This has always driven me nuts… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/2 "2001-04-23T19:00:43Z")
Snob appeal, I suspect. It could be different: here in Canada, it’s The Law. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/3 "2001-04-23T20:06:45Z")
Blame NAFTA. It’s to make the product easier to distribute in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Deanomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@Deanomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanomon)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/4 "2001-04-24T15:07:02Z")
I am leaning against the NAFTA idea. NAFTA went into effect around 1994/5 - the bottles have had these type of labels much longer than that. I don’t think it is an export issue as all text is not translated - apparently only when it looks cool. Is it really that much of a marketing ploy that people will buy the product because it makes you feel like you’re washing your hair in Paris? It seems a little ludicrous to me… ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/5 "2001-04-24T16:16:42Z")
Fine, forget NAFTA. It still makes it easier to distribute in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/6 "2001-04-24T17:26:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guy Propski \* > \*\*Blame NAFTA. It’s to make the product easier to distribute in Canada. \*\* If that were the case, why wouldn’t the labelling be done in English, French and Spanish, to suit the US, Canada and Mexico? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/7 "2001-04-24T17:56:31Z")
The Francophillian Canuck government REQUIRES products being sold in Canada to have everything in French, in a font no less conspicuous than the English, or the retailer can be fined. Mexico has no such restriction. Here in Miami we see VERY little French, but A BOATLOAD of Spanish. Regional manufacturing plants with different distribution areas may have different packaging. If you live in Georgia, you are MUCH less likely to see French than if you lived in Michigan. This was all pre-NAFTA, it’s is just the Frogs in Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/8 "2001-04-24T18:08:01Z")
Although this pertains to food and beverage, it is similar for Head & Shoulders. [http://www.mac.doc.gov/nafta/7602.htm](http://www.mac.doc.gov/nafta/7602.htm) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shampoo-labels-in-french/63027/9 "2001-04-24T23:18:20Z")
ahem - Frogs? I am an anglophone Québecker, and I agree with that aspect of Bill 101. Although the law is ridiculous in many situations, I don’t think wanting products advertised in French is really that big a deal. It is easier for the company to produce one container, allowing them to distribute to more people, and if it’s in a language people can read, then they increase their market, thus increasing revenue, etc etc. It just makes sense. So please do not refer to us as Frogs.