il n'était pas une fraise tagada mais il lavait plus blanc que blanc
English translation: It was nothing to write home about but it got the job done
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09:11 Oct 13, 2011
French to English translations [PRO] Marketing - Medical: Pharmaceuticals
French term or phrase:il n'était pas une fraise tagada mais il lavait plus blanc que blanc
This phrase appears in a marketing presentation comparing three HIV medications.
This particular drug is seen as being routinely prescribed by doctors, good resistance, easy to administer, good reputation overall, but a bit opportunistic in terms of capitalising on competitors' weaknesses.
Part of the presentation translates its image into funeral orations, based on the different perceptions doctors have of the drug. One of these orations is:
"Il n'etait pas une fraise tagada mais il lavait plus blanc que blanc"
and I am having real trouble translating it! For a start, "strawberry tagada" would mean nothing to most English people so it is perhaps a question of finding an equivalent.
Thank you for all these comments, and I am very sorry for not responding sooner. I had to deliver the translation very shortly after posting the question and have only just come back on Proz. Another lesson learned...
Just in case anyone is still interested, here are the other orations:
Drug 1 (the one under discussion):
"Colosse aux pieds d’argile tu étais, et ton talon d'Achille t’a fait vaciller. Paix aux antirétroviraux de bonne volonté. Tes reins reconnaissants
we're wasting our breath - when we could be saving it to cool our porridge - on this one until we know what was said of the other 2 medications (that's 3 times I alone have asked; I'm now preparing to throw up my arms in despair, then go and sulk in a corner).
Est-ce que cela pourrait simplement vouloir dire qu'on l'administrait en voulant croire aux arguments publicitaires massifs ? En tout cas, je comprends ce que Drmanu veut dire : je fais moi aussi automatiquement le lien avec l'ironie de Coluche. Si je me souviens bien, c'était les débuts de la pub matraquage et on trouvait quand même ce genre de slogan assez cucul la praline. Sans comparaison possible avec les autres oraisons funèbres, je crois que c'est impossible d'être certain.
En France, la Fraise Tagada est un des bonbons les plus connus, mais aussi les plus imités : nombreuses sont les marques de confiseries qui ont créé leur propre imitation de la Fraise Tagada.
Les ventes de Fraises Tagada atteignent un milliard d'unités par an en France
And also:
Haribo a été cité au Parlement allemand pour avoir utilisé le travail obligatoire dans ses usines pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
La firme a contesté ce fait et refusé par conséquent de contribuer au fonds d'indemnisation des travailleurs forcés. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haribo
That'll have some people gagging on their fraises.
but since you say this medication is "a bit opportunistic in terms of capitalising on competitors' weaknesses", maybe there is a suggestion that it has imitated other medications, i.e. is not original but is effective nonetheless. To get to this interpretation you probably have to have read Wikipedia's "In France, the Fraise Tagada is one of the most widely sold candies (1 billion Fraises annually) and also one of the most imitated".
Laver plus blanc que blanc n'est pas péjoratif/négatif comme le croit Dr Manu. Ça peut être au maximum ironique (lorsqu'il s'agit d'une personne qui "en fait trop"). Dans le contexte et la phrase, il est clair pour un francophone que ça signifie que le médicament est efficace (même s'il n'est pas "sexy").
Exactly what I meant.
la dernière approche à la mode qui permet enfin de laver " plus blanc que blanc " means it cannot be true, it's just a trend that will pass like all trends. Like believing in fairytales. But maybe you still do!
Dommage qu'on ne puisse pas comparer avec le reste
14:09 Oct 13, 2011
Et si c'était du genre : ce n'était pas gentil-gentil, mignon, inoffensif (pour les enfants, petits et grands), mais on faisait confiance à sa réputation : il n'y allait pas par quatre chemins pour avoir l'effet qu'on attendait de lui (cf Sharon et polyglot) - mais comme le signale Drmanu et Joshua, on pourrait aussi comprendre que la marque avait choisi de mettre en avant les résultats visés plutôt que le côté : je ménage le patient, c'est facile à administrer ...
I've decided to become a native French speaker, I've been speaking it for so long. And that is not how I understand it.
Example:
N’est-il pas plus confortable et sécurisant d’adopter la dernière approche à la mode qui permet enfin de laver " plus blanc que blanc " les difficultés de nos familles ou de nos organisations ? http://www.centrejeunessedemontreal.qc.ca/pdf/cmulti/defi/de...
But of course, written by a French Canadian who doesn't understand French.
It is never used as a compliment on the contrary it suggests false claims of performance. Any native French speaker would understand the wording this way. And it is commonly used to speak about something unreliable or just plain nor believable.
"Laver plus blanc que blanc" is not always used as a compliment, but it certainly doesn't mean "not up to what it claimed to be". It's often used in the sense of overdoing something, overkill, going all out...
I grew up in the days of advertising telling us that Persil washed whiter than white, and no one saw any reason to disbelieve it. Indeed, you might think your shirts are perfectly white until you manage to get them whiter still.
Then, at high school, we were taught that advertising is all a lie. At around the same time anything "white" began to be tinged not with colour but with shades of colonialism and oppression of native peoples. So maybe people of my generation take the expression at face value, younger folk au deuxième degré.
It could well be the same in France. I mean, if a person's reference is Coluche making fun of the claim, then maybe they didn't grow up with the claim in the first place.
Now, of course, we need to find out what the authors meant, instead of second-guessing. And comparison with the other claims might help (hint).
It was not bad but it was not up to what it claimed to be or to do
Explanation: Fraise tagada are sweets well known to stain, whereas plus blanc que blanc refers to washing powder which is really efficient, almost too good to be true..
So more or less this means:
It was not bad but it was not up to what it claimed to be or to do
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 heure (2011-10-13 10:36:19 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
"plus blanc que blanc" is used to point at a lie or an unbelievable commercial.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): -2
